A California woman was getting into her car when a homeless man sprinted across Hollywood Boulevard toward her, pulled her out of her car, dragged her into the middle of the street and poured a bucket of hot feces on her head.
Heidi Van Tassel said that the disgusting incident took place near the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Van Tassel said she was getting into her car when a man, who appeared to be homeless, attacked her, adding:
“It was diarrhea. I was soaked, and it was coming off my eyelashes and into my eyes. Paramedics who came to treat me said there was so much of it on me, that it looked like the man was saving it up for a month.”
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Van Tassel was rushed to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital after the attack, where she was tested for infectious diseases caused by contact with feces. She will need to be retested every three months. She said:
“It was all inside my car because it was so much. He just kept pouring it and splattering it all over me.”
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She said the Los Angeles Police Department told her they’d investigate the crime, but she has not been able to reach them. Van Tassel said the police also promised to have their victims’ advocate reach out to her to offer services, but she did not hear from them. She said:
“It’s so traumatic. The PTSD that I’m dealing with is beyond anything that I’ve ever felt. There needs to be some kind of help for the victims of these crimes.”
The man who attacked her, identified in court records as Jere Blessings, was charged with battery and taken to jail. Records describe Blessings as a transient with “schizophrenia and psychotic disorders.” Van Tassel said:
“He doesn’t need jail time. He needs mental health care. I have empathy for him. Because he needs help.”
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Jere Blessings got help, but only for two months. He was sent by a judge to a residential facility for people with mental health issues and released in August.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office said Blessings is now back in the community, which worries Van Tassel.
Security footage from businesses nearby captured the attack, and bodycam captured the aftermath as officers responded. Still, the LAPD and nearby businesses would not release the footage, even when Van Tassel asked to see it. She said through tears:
“It was awful. And it changed my life. I will never, ever, forget his face. What’s the next thing he’s going to do somebody? If he would’ve had a knife, for sure he would’ve stabbed me.”
