Man Who Attacked Olympian Kim Glass Has ‘Troubling History’ of Violence, DA Says

Kim Glass attends 2018 LAPMF Heroes for Heroes Celebrity Poker Tournament & Casino Night Party at AVALON Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on November 10th, 2018. (Credit: Shutterstock)

The homeless man accused of assaulting former Olympic volleyball player Kim Glass in downtown Los Angeles is no stranger to law enforcement, authorities say.

Semeon Tesfamarian, 51, faces one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, including allegations he “caused great bodily injury and of being previously convicted in 2020 of a serious and/or violent felony,” according to a news release issued Tuesday, July 12, by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

“This was a brutal, unprovoked attack. Mr. Tesfamariam has a troubling history of attacking apparently random people with dangerous weapons. His behavior appears to have escalated with time,” Gascón said.

According to the D.A.’s office, Tesfamarian’s first felony assault occurred in 2018 and the second in 2019. He was initially sentenced to probation and later sent to state prison. He was on parole when he allegedly attacked Glass on July 8.

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Tesfamarian was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting Glass, but his court date was suspended while he undergoes a mental health evaluation. He is being held without bail, and his next hearing is set for Aug. 17.

Glass was attacked in downtown L.A. at Olive and Eighth streets on Friday around 2:40 p.m., the LAPD told Urban Hollywood 411.

In a video Glass posted on social media, she had a black eye that was swollen shut and a gash on the side of her nose.

She said she was outside with a friend when a man suddenly attacked her.

“As I was leaving lunch, I was outside saying goodbye to a friend and this homeless man ran up,” she said. “He had something in his haInd, he was on the side of the car in the street, and he just like looked at me with some pretty hateful eyes, and as I go to tell my friend I think something is wrong with him, before I knew it, a big metal bolt like pipe hit me. It happened so fast, he literally flung it from the street.”

She suffered multiple fractures around her eye and needed stitches, but said she does not believe her vision will be affected. She urged people to “just be safe out there.”

Glass, 37, won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Team USA’s indoor volleyball team.