Boy, 15, Fighting For His Life After Being Ambushed At Freedom Plaza

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 15-year-old boy is in grave condition after being attacked from behind by three other juveniles while eating at a Freedom Plaza restaurant Tuesday night, according to police.

The attack happened just before 7 p.m. in the outdoor dining area.

"While eating, the two juvenile victims were approached frombehind and brutally beaten by three juvenile suspects," the Los Angeles Police Department announced. "One of the victims was later hospitalized and released. The other remains hospitalized with grave injuries."

Police arrested one juvenile on suspicion of attempted murder and are looking for two more youths.

The name of the suspect was not released due to the juvenile's age. The victims' names also have not been released, but family members identified the gravely injured teen as Jason Rios, 15.

"He didn't know these individuals. They came up behind him. They threw a punch at his head. They knocked him to the ground. He mentioned that he tried to dodge a lot of the hits by covering his body," Jason's sister, Nayeli Rios, told ABC7.

Jason remains hospitalized at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, where he underwent brain surgery, the family told the station.

"A lot of the kicks were to the body. He had lesions on his arms... he had multiple lesions on his face. He received, the one major hit or the major hits he received was on the right side of his brain. So that's where they operated from and that's where the inflammation from his eyes are coming from as well," Nayeli told Channel 7.

The teen celebrated his birthday last weekend.

"So we just celebrated his birthday on Saturday. He's so joyous. I remember we were, we were there celebrating his birthday he blew out the candles. He was so happy. He never has any problems with anybody. He goes to school, my mom picks him up, my mom brings him home. It's the one day that my mom let him go with a friend to eat. And that we don't, we don't let him go out because it's dangerous," Nayeli said.

Anyone with information regarding the attack was urged to contact LAPD Southeast detectives at 213-972-7813. Calls during non-business hours or weekends should be directed to 877-527-3247. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.