A transgender shopkeeper in Westlake has been the victim of a string of violent hate crimes, according to authorities.

Police have arrested one suspect in the attacks and are looking for two other men believed to be involved.

One man has been arrested on suspicion of taking part in a string of violent hate crimes against a transgender shopkeeper in Westlake who was sexually assaulted, pepper-sprayed, punched and hit with a skateboard, authorities said. Two other suspects remain at large.

Sabrina de la Peña, 61, told The Times that she operated her convenience store across the street from MacArthur Park for nearly three decades without feeling threatened by a customer.

That was until April 8, when a man sexually assaulted her after she rejected his advances, and upon discovering she w

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