A man beaten outside a West Hollywood nightclub is the victim of a hate crime, family believes

The family of a man beaten unconscious outside a West Hollywood nightclub is hoping to find the suspect who caused life-threatening injuries to Alberto Vasquez.

The incident occurred on the evening of April 5th. Family members say the 53-year-old was partying in West Hollywood's lively Rainbow District. Vasquez was at the Heart Weho nightclub. The victim set out to meet up with friends nearby at around 8pm but never arrived.

A passerby found Vasquez lying unconscious in a parking lot next to the nightclub. Vasquez suffered serious injuries as a result of the altercation, but no suspects were identified.

Vasquez was in the hospital for five days before his family was able to find him. A nurse at Cedars Sinai Medical Center answered a family member's call on his cell phone and informed them of the incident.

Family and friends of Vasquez say he was a talented hairdresser who worked with celebrity clients and flew to places like New York and Paris to fix his clients' hair.

Vasquez now faces a long road to recovery from his life-threatening injuries. He had to undergo brain surgery because of the injuries he sustained from the attack. Because of the swelling in his brain, doctors had to remove part of Vasquez's skull.

“The punch to the face, you can tell it hit the eye,” Vasquez's sister, Gloria Jimenez, told KTLA's Chris Wolfe. “They fractured his skull around the eye socket.”

Vasquez's family and friends say they are still looking for answers as to why someone would do something like this to the 53-year-old, but his sister believes it was a hate crime.

“We think it’s gay bashing,” Jimenez said. “He wasn’t robbed.”

No suspects have been identified and no information has been given about a possible motive.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the West Hollywood Sherrif's Station at 310-855-8850.

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