The co-founder of frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry was found guilty of beating a homeless man with a tire iron after the victim showed him an erotic tattoo on an East Hollywood street.
48-year-old Young Lee was driving with some friends and his fiancée in June 2011 when Daniel Bolding approached their vehicle and showed the passengers a tattoo that bore the image of two stick figures engaged in intercourse, the Los Angeles Times reported. Lee zoomed off in his car to avoid the homeless man, but later returned with another man and struck Bolding multiple times using a tire iron.
In less than two days following the initial trial, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found Lee guilty. Judge Henry Hall told the court that the three week-long trial demonstrated that Lee had made violent threats against Bolding, which rendered him a "threat to the community."
Lee will receive his sentencing on Jan. 14, after being remanded with no bail. He could get hit with up to seven years in a state prison, the LA Times reported.
Lee's attorney Phillip Kent Cohen said that he agreed with the prosecution on "96 percent of what happened: that there was a tire iron and that [Bolding] was given great bodily injury." But Cohen insisted that Lee never touched the weapon, saying that Bolding "flat-out lied."
Bolding's legal representative Deputy Dist. Atty. Bobby Zoumberakis countered Cohen's comments by showing photos of his client, beaten and bleeding, to the jury.
Bolding has filed an additional lawsuit against Lee, citing personal injury. He's seeking damages for the attack, according to the LA Times.
Lee helped found Pinkberry eight years ago, but is no longer involved in the company's dealings.
