Good Samaritan saves street vendor who was attacked in Lennox

LOS ANGELES – A Good Samaritan came to the aid of an attacked flower seller.

Last month, Juan Diaz was selling flowers near Hawthorne Blvd. and the intersection of Highway 105 in Lennox when he was ambushed and robbed.

Gerardo Plascencia came to his aid and repelled the attacker.

“It was an impulse. Honestly, I don’t know how I did it. I saw that nobody was doing anything, but later on when I thought about it, I thought, ‘Thank God that guy wasn’t armed,'” Plascencia told FOX 11.

Diaz is grateful that Plascencia happened to be in the area and intervened.

A year ago, Diaz was brutally attacked and stabbed by another man while selling flowers at the same location in Hawthorne. This time no one intervened.

“Thank you very much to the Cuban,” Diaz said.

Plascencia arrived in Los Angeles from Cuba in July and has also been robbed since then. He lives in a tent and works odd jobs.

Since the attack, Diaz has been looking for Plascencia, and FOX 11’s Cristy Fajardo was able to get them on the phone. Diaz repeatedly thanked Plascencia and asked for the favor to be returned.

Plascencia replied that he did it from the heart.

Diaz is working the streets again, but this time his daughter is with him. He said he has been working since he was 6 and can’t just sit at home and do nothing.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help cover medical costs.