Samuel Teal, 48 [Updated]

Died Nov. 24, 2010

Samuel Teal, a 48-year-old Asian man, died Wednesday, Nov. 24, 10 days after he was assaulted in the 500 block of Crocker Street in downtown, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Ed Winter, spokesman for the coroner's office, said Teal sustained blunt-force trauma to the head Nov. 14 at 12:50 p.m. He was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries Nov. 24 at 4:19 p.m., he said.

The coroner's office had no additional information about the case. The Times has contacted investigators to obtain more details about the incident and will provide an update as soon as possible.

[Updated Nov. 30: LAPD Central Det. Thayer Lake, who is handling the investigation, said the call reporting a battery in progress came about 1:30 p.m., more than half an hour later than originally reported to the coroner.

When police arrived, they found Teal injured and he was taken by paramedics to County-USC Medical Center, where he remained in a coma until his death. 

Lake said two suspects have been arrested, although he declined to provide additional information pending the ongoing investigation.

Detectives are still trying to determine the motive for the assault; however Lake said they do not believe the confrontation involved robbery.

At the time of his death, Teal was a transient who frequented the area in which he was killed, Lake said.

Anyone with information about the incident or who witnessed the assault is asked to contact Det. Lake at (213) 972-1254. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.]

— Sarah Ardalani