The family of a 45-year-old man laying in a coma believe a language barrier between him and a security guard may have led to his alleged beating.
Sebastian Sandoval is hospitalized at Valley Medical Center. His brother and sister in law, Maria Lazaro, said there is not much hope Sandoval will make it out of the coma.
"If he's able to wake up, he's going to be like a vegetable," Lazaro said.
Lazaro said Sandoval was with two co-workers at Jess's Place, a restaurant in South San Jose on Oct. 10. Everything seemed to be fine, according to his friends.
"Everyone was having fun," Lazaro said.
But at some point, Sandoval's co-workers went to the bathroom and when they returned he was outside on the ground. The co-workers said a security guard at the restaurant attacked Sandoval, leaving him unconscious.
NBC Bay Area sister station Telemundo 48 interviewed the restaurant's owner, who provided a much different story.
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"They attacked the security guard and so the guard acted in self defense," said Zenon Robles, restaurant owner. "The police have the rest of the information."
Robles said the security guard only worked at the restaurant for two days and has since been fired.
San Jose police would only say the incident is an ongoing investigation.
For Lazaro, she hopes someone will step forward with answers.
Sandoval is a single father of a 13-year-old boy and his entire family is rallying around him.
"We really need help from the public," Lazaro said. "Somebody (had to have seen) something."
