A Woodland Hills man was ordered to pay millions of dollars to two street vendors after a jury unanimously found him liable for assault.
“This gentleman, Daniel McGuire, who lived in the neighborhood, suddenly, without any provocation and without any reason, attacked or at least attempted to attack my clients,” said attorney Christian Contreras.
Contreras represented the two street vendors McGuire allegedly attacked in 2022. The court ordered him to pay them $2.8 million.
“He didn’t physically touch them or physically hurt them, but he certainly caused them great distress by his aggressive behavior, by his aggressive actions,” Contreras said. “And he said very vulgar things.”
Cell phone video showed one of the incidents in which McGuire smashed Jonathan Alvarez’s table and equipment with an axe. Alvarez said he was shocked and scared.
“The truth is that at that moment I was really scared,” Alvarez said in Spanish. “That guy was threatening my life.”
Two years after the attack, Alvarez is happy that he has received some semblance of justice.
“I think justice has been done for the behavior he has shown,” Alvarez said in Spanish.
Recent attacks on street vendors have raised security concerns.
“These are individuals who are not harming anyone,” Contreras said.
Tom Wait
