This story was updated on April 4, 2022.
Andy Torres of Canyon Country said he was assaulted Saturday morning while playing the drums at Todd Longshore Park by a man who destroyed his drum kit with an ax and threatened him with a gun.
The 36-year-old Torres said he was practicing drumming outdoors at the park on Saturday around 7 a.m., using a small drum kit, as he has nearly every day for the past month, but this day was different.
While he was filming himself playing, an older man with balding gray hair approached Torres while brandishing an ax and then proceeded to destroy the drum kit, before disappearing out of frame and threatening him with what Torres said was a handgun.
“This man came out from behind me with an ax and started swinging at me,” Torres said. “I was able to get out of his way and he ended up smashing up the drum kit with his ax and he threatened me with a gun that he pulled out of his jacket.”
All the while, Torres was able to capture the entire incident on camera, although without audio, and was even able to film the man getting into what appears to be a silver Chrysler 300.
Torres said that, as he followed the man to his car, he told him he filmed the entire thing and had even recorded his license plate number.
“I got his car and his license plate and that’s when he saw me with the video camera,” said Torres. “Basically he was like, ‘You know, it doesn’t even matter. I’ll just tell him he came at me.’ and I’m like, ‘Wait, I have you on camera attacking me and you’re saying this right now?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I don’t care.’ And he just hopped in his car, threatened me once again with his gun and drove away.”
Torres called the authorities and filed an assault with a deadly weapon report with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. Torres was not injured during the incident.
“Thank God I wasn’t injured because I barely caught him from the corner. I heard somebody approaching, you know, and barely turned around and he just started swinging,” said Torres. “This is very dangerous. A person like this shouldn’t be walking around the streets. No warning, no warning at all and I barely caught him. I could have been dead.”
Deputy Natalie Arriaga, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, confirmed that Torres had filed a report that “the suspect… brandished a firearm towards the victim while yelling at the victim. The suspect then entered his vehicle and drove southbound on Whites Canyon Road and out of view.”
Arriaga also said the suspect was still at large and that anyone with information regarding his identity or location should contact the SCV Sheriff’s Station at 661-260-4000.
