Surveillance video captures brutal unprovoked beating of 60-year-old homeless man in California

A 60-year-old man suffered a brutal and unprovoked beating in Twentynine Palms, California, and police are asking for the help of the public to find a suspect captured in the surveillance video.

Tim Richardson was sitting outside a 7-Eleven convenience store on Monday when a young man approached him and viciously stomped on him without warning.

Surveillance video captured the man walking out of a black car and then running back after the attack.

Richardson told KESQ-TV that he had never seen the man before and didn't do anything to provoke the attack. He said he wasn't seriously injured.

Residents of the neighborhood said that Richardson doesn't panhandle and often helps the small businesses by sweeping up for them. His friends want to find out who attacked him and why they did it.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a news release that they were made aware of the attack after it was circulated on social media. They are looking for a black male between 15-20 years of age and also the driver of the black Nissan Altima in which he fled.

A growing problem

Homelessness has become a major crisis in many regions across the country and some cities have responded with increased policing while others have turned to community-based programs to help the homeless.

In addition to economic difficulties, the homeless also face unprovoked and sometimes lethal attacks. One troubling incident in Chicago included four homeless men being stabbed in the neck as they were sleeping on the streets. One of those men died as a result of his injuries. A suspect has been arrested in that series of attacks.