Co-Founder of Pinkberry Ordered to Pay Medical Bills of Transient He Pummeled

The co-founder of the Pinkberry yogurt chain was ordered today to pay $17,074 in medical bills for a transient he beat with a tire iron on an offramp of the Hollywood (101) Freeway nearly three years ago.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall said he wanted Young Lee, 49, to pay the money directly to the three medical facilities that treated Donald Bolding after the June 15, 2011, attack.

Lee was sentenced March 14 to seven years in state prison, with the judge calling it "a savage attack on a defenseless person with a tire iron" and noting that the victim was protected from further injury by others who came to his aid and called 911.

Lee was convicted Nov. 8 of assault with a deadly weapon, along with an allegation of great bodily injury.

Authorities said Lee confronted Bolding because he believed that the transient had disrespected him by exposing a tattoo of two stick figures engaged in sexual activity.

At the sentencing hearing, the judge noted that Lee drove at least 100 yards down the road before pulling out the tire iron from his car and coming back with a companion to confront Bolding, who was panhandling on the Vermont Avenue offramp of the Hollywood Freeway.

Lee is appealing his conviction.

Bolding has filed a civil lawsuit against Lee, who co-founded Pinkberry with then-wife Shelly Hwang in 2005. He is no longer involved with the company, its partners or its more than 170 stores worldwide. Pinkberry formally ended his ties with him in May 2010, according to the company.

--City News Service