Robert Peter Pimentel was 70 years old when he died on Thursday, November 29, 2018, nine days after he was beaten in Norwalk. According to the Los Angeles County coroner, he died of blunt force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
According to the coroner's office and the Sheriff's Department, Robert was taken to a hospital from the 11000 block of Imperial Highway, near Studebaker Road, at about 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, two days before Thanksgiving. He died at about 5 p.m. on November 29. The Sheriff's Department did not release information on how he was injured. A fundraiser started by a family friend described what happened: Robert "was leaving Taco Bell when was attacked from behind and then beaten. He fought for his life in ICU for 10 days" before he died.
Robert was a father and a grandfather, known to his grandchildren as Pa Pa. His death came at the end of what the family friend called "a tough two years for the Pimentel family." His daughter, known as little Margaret, died of cancer in April 2017, and his wife, also named Margaret and known as Nana, died of cancer in August 2018. Just three months later, the family had to bury him as well. The friend described his death as "a selfish act of violence" and wrote that the family was grateful for everyone's "support, love, and prayers."
An attack from behind on a 70-year-old man leaving a fast-food restaurant suggests a robbery or a random assault rather than a dispute between people who knew each other. Restaurants and the businesses around them usually have cameras covering their parking lots and drive-throughs, and the attack happened in the early evening, when the area would have been busy.
Norwalk is a city of about 100,000 people in southeast Los Angeles County, a largely Latino, working- and middle-class suburb crossed by the 5 and 105 freeways. It contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services. Imperial Highway and Studebaker Road are two of its busiest commercial streets, lined with shopping centers, fast-food restaurants and gas stations.
Homicides across Los Angeles County in 2018 were near their lowest levels in decades, yet a large share of killings still ended without an arrest. The beating death of a grandfather leaving a restaurant drew only a brief notice in local news.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Robert Peter Pimentel could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was near Imperial Highway and Studebaker Road on the evening of November 20, 2018, or who knows who attacked him, may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
