Pinkberry Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty to Beating Homeless Man

The co-founder of Pinkberry pleaded not guilty Monday to with a tire iron along the Hollywood Freeway. 

Young Lee, a 47-year-old boxer-turned-architect, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in relation to an evening attack on a homeless beggar on June 15, 2011. A judge modified the terms of his $60,000 bail so he can make a trip to his native Korea later this month. Lee agreed to surrender his passport when he returns to court March 5 for a preliminary hearing. 

Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Fugitive Warrants Task Force arrested Lee at the Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 17 when he was returning from Korea.

Prosecutors allege Lee and a companion got out of the car he was driving on Vermont Avenue near the Hollywood Freeway offramp and confronted the homeless man, who was asking motorists for money, because Lee thought the transient had disrespected him by exposing a sexually explicit tattoo. 

Lee allegedly used a tire iron to beat the man, who suffered a broken left forearm and several cuts to his head, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office. 

Witnesses provided police with the license plate of the vehicle, a Range Rover, that police said was rented in Lee’s name. A tire iron was seized from the vehicle, according to police. 

Lee faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. 

The first Pinkberry opened in West Hollywood in 2005. There are two locations in Beverly Hills:  and .  

This article was compiled with information from City News Service.

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