A homeless man has been arrested in the violent beating of a 70-year-old Sikh man in Los Angeles [VIDEO]

A 44-year-old homeless man with a lengthy criminal record has been detained in connection with a brutal attack on an elderly Sikh man in North Hollywood earlier this month, authorities revealed Tuesday.

The savage Aug. 4 assault occurred around 3:15 p.m. outside a 7-Eleven near the junction of Saticoy Street and Lankershim Boulevard.

According to witnesses, a man on a bicycle approached the victim and violently struck him with the golf club for unknown reasons before walking away from the scene and leaving the golf club behind. 

Surveillance footage of the incident is too graphic to show, though in video of the aftermath obtained by gossloop.xyz, the victim, 70-year-old Harpal Singh, is seen covered in blood while sitting on the ground, the golf club at his feet as others approach, presumably to help him.

The 70-year-old, who frequents Sikh Gurdwara of Los Angeles, his nearby place of worship, was rushed to the hospital where family members say he was treated for a skull fracture and possible brain trauma.

As of Monday night, a week after the attack, Singh remained in a medically induced coma.

In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell announced the arrest of 44-year-old Bo Richard Vitagliano, an unhoused resident of L.A., in connection with the assault.

“Based on the evidence in this matter, North Hollywood detectives believe the assault was not a hate crime, at least not from what’s been determined at this stage, but instead was motivated by a dispute over property belonging to the victim,” McDonnell stated.

The suspect, according to the chief, has previously been arrested for narcotics, assault with a deadly weapon and various weapons charges.

He was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and remains in custody at the Van Nuys Jail.

In a statement provided from the Sikh Coalition, which expressed gratitude for the 44-year-old’s arrest, members of the group took some issue with LAPD indication that they are not investigating the assault as a hate crime.

“In the Sikh Coalition’s view it is impossible to completely rule out a bias motive at this stage,” the statement read in part. “The suspect has been in custody for less than 24 hours, and the victim himself remains unconscious and has thus been unable to sit for a full and comprehensive police interview, with professional translation services, separate from the interview taken immediately after the attack.”

Before moving onto another topic at the press conference, McDonnell added that officers will ramp up patrols in that area of North Hollywood, where many business owners who spoke described the neighborhood as dangerous and plagued with vandalism and violence, much of it connected to the sizable homeless population.