A 38-year-old man was arrested after 55-year-old Tonya Martin said she was “bashed in the face with a brick” on Monday around 5 p.m. near the corner of Redondo Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.
Police said the attack happened shortly before 5:20 p.m. At the scene, police spoke to Martin, who was being treated by the Long Beach Fire Department for minor, non-life-threatening injuries. She was then taken to a hospital, where she was told she had a concussion.
Martin, a Long Beach resident for some 34 years, is a prominent figure in the city’s LGBTQ+ community. She is a historian for Long Beach Pride and was inducted into the Long Beach Equality Plaza memorial wall at Harvey Milk Park last year along with former Mayor Robert Garcia. She also currently works as a Southern California outreach staffer for California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and worked for former District 6 Councilman Dee Andrews for nine years.
The motive for the attack is unclear. While Martin is well-known for her work in the LGBTQ+ community, she said, “I don’t think it was a gay bashing at all.”
She told police that she was in the area of the 3400 block of Pacific Coast Highway when she saw a man walking next to her. He then passed her, turned around and “struck her in the upper body with an unknown object,” police said. Martin told the Post she was helping a friend into a car from his wheelchair when the man “blindsided” her and struck her in the face with what appeared to be a brick.
“The suspect fled in an unknown direction before officers arrived and later returned to the scene,” LBPD told the Post. “The suspect was subsequently arrested and transported to Long Beach City jail for booking.”
Cecil Earl Adams, a 38-year-old Long Beach resident, was booked on one count of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident. His bail was set at $30,000.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
According to city records, Adams has been arrested on at least four other occasions on suspicion of battery and assault, with records dating back to 2021. On May 20, he was arrested in connection with a charge of assault likely to produce great bodily injury.
Martin’s injuries are on the left side of her face from her jaw up to her forehead.
“But I’m #stillpretty,” she told the Post, relieved that her injuries were not worse.