Southern California Painter Awarded $58M for Bar Beating

A 43-year-old house painter so badly brain damaged that he cannot speak has been awarded $58 million for a beating in a bar that left him with half his skull permanently bashed in.

Antonio Lopez Chaj (CHAI) appeared at a news conference in July with lawyers who announced the award handed down against a security company by a jury in Torrance Superior Court.

They said it was among the largest damage awards ever given to one person in California.

Chaj was attacked at a mid-Wilshire bar after trying to intercede in an attack by a bartender on two relatives who were with him.

Lawyers said an unlicensed, untrained security guard beat him with a baton, kicked him in the head eight times and smashed his skull against pavement.