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Palos Verdes Estates Liquor Store Owner Beaten With Bats by Assailants Wearing Skeleton Costumes

A liquor store owner was brutally beaten with baseball bats by two attackers wearing skeleton costumes in the affluent seaside community of Palos Verdes Estates, police said.

The incident took place Friday night following a robbery near the Palos Verdes Golf Club, according to the Palos Verdes Police Department.

The liquor store attack took place shortly before 9 p.m. when the assailants entered the Golden Lion Liquor store on Palos Verdes Drive and attacked the owner. The victim suffered a broken arm while trying to protect himself, police said.

A motive for the attack was unclear, police said. Witnesses said the store owner had refused to sell alcohol to underage customers.

"Somebody was screaming," said a witness, who did not want to be identified. "I came up to him and he was all full of blood. I asked him if he was OK and he said two kids hit him with baseball bats."

Less than two hours later, two teenagers sitting in a parked car near the golf course were robbed of a wallet by two men wielding what appeared to be a cattle prod and wearing bandanas to cover their faces, police said. The robbers took off in a car.

Officials say it had been two years since a robbery had been reported in Palos Verdes Estates.

As of Monday evening, no arrests had been made, police said.

"I'm shocked," said resident Melissa Linderman. "People come here to live on the hill because of how safe it is and it's a great place to raise your kids."

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