SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — More than four years after an attack in Ocean Beach left Kobe La with serious injuries, the civil case he filed is finally over as a judge recently awarded La more than $700,000.
La was just 22 at the time, excited to be with friends for the first time since restrictions were relaxed during the pandemic.
Their celebration came to an end when a man approached them claiming La and his friends stole his spot.
La said they could share, but the man returned with a group of friends and attacked them, while also yelling racial slurs.
"Ultimately, it was just a jumble of emotions … that should have never happened," La said. "I was a lot younger back then, but even now, I still feel that it could have and should have been avoided."
ABC 10News anchor Melissa Mecija first spoke to La about a week after the June 15, 2021 attack.
"When I went to brush my teeth, I realized I couldn't move my mouth, and it hurt whenever I tried to put my toothbrush in my mouth. I was still bleeding from the night before," he said in the 2021 interview.
La suffered several facial fractures and underwent jaw surgery.
Gabriel Ramos was arrested in connection with the incident, and prosecutors ultimately charged him with assault.
In 2023, a judge sentenced him to probation. During that hearing, Ramos spoke to La directly.
“I apologize to the bottom of my heart to the defendant Kobe La … It was stupid, it was childish, it was disrespectful," Ramos said during the June 2023 hearing.
After the criminal case, La filed a civil lawsuit. Earlier this month, the judge awarded La more than $763,000.
Several years after the attack, La said the assault still affects it emotionally and physically.
“It definitely affected me to see like the average person a little bit more negatively, a little bit more cautious of what they can do to me or the people around me,” La said.
He said he never regained feeling in a portion of his lip and chin after the attack.
"My main message is that if you see something, you should always say something, you know, whether it be not me but someone watching this all go down. I'm very thankful for the person that actually stood up and came to intervene," La said.
He also had this message to his attacker: "I really hope you learned your lesson. I hope this was a wake-up call for you, that you know now that things like this should never be tolerated.”
ABC 10News reached out to Ramos and his lawyer, but his lawyer declined to comment.
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