Man Charged in Beating of Transgender Woman in Hollywood

A 21-year-old Los Angeles man was charged today with the beating of a transgender woman who was attacked on Hollywood Boulevard and hospitalized for a week with serious injuries.

Nicol Shakhnazaryan pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon to charges of battery with serious bodily injury, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and a special allegation of great bodily injury.

Shakhnazaryan, who was arrested Thursday, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted. He was originally jailed in lieu of $1.05 million bail, but a judge set bail at $50,000 this afternoon. Shakhnazaryan is due back in court on July 16 to get a preliminary hearing date.

He was allegedly among a group of men who attacked the 22-year-old victim in the 6200 block of Hollywood Boulevard, near a Metro stop, about 2:15 a.m. on May 31.

Security video circulated by police showed the young men knocking down the victim, who is wearing a sheer pink or orange dress, then delivering several kicks to the head and body.

The woman, identified by police only as "Vivian," suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, two fractured eye sockets and other injuries that kept her hospitalized for seven days, according to authorities.

No other arrests have been made in the case, in which a $25,000 reward was offered. Detectives set up an email account for receiving tips. Anyone with information about the attackers should write to hollywoodcrimetips@gmail.com., or call detectives at (213) 972-2967.