Volleyball player Kim Glass was left with shocking injuries after she was attacked by a homeless man with a metal pipe. The 37-year-old took to social media to share posts of her bloody nose and swollen black eye after being randomly assaulted in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The 6’3 athlete was leaving a restaurant with her friend when she noticed the man acting in a strange manner and looked at her 'with some pretty hateful eyes’, before he proceeded to strike her in the face. She said: “The homeless man ran-up, he had something in his hand and he was on the other side of a car on the street.”
The Sports Illustrated model added she had been about to turn to her pal to say she thought there was something wrong with him and that he might hit a car. She continued: “Before I knew it, a big metal bolt, like a pipe, hit me... it happened so fast. He literally flung it from the street.”
Despite the traumatic experience, the Olympic silver medallist reassured her fans she is okay and recovering after being stitched up. Glass’ attack is the latest in a number of similar crimes to take place in the famous Californian city.
LA County District Attorney George Gascón has been criticised for his liberal approach to crime, with violent offenders being let out of jail early and others not even being locked up. A petition to recall him has garnered more than 700,000 signatures, with the standard in California being more than 500,000.
Los Angeles is also struggling to combat a rise in homelessness in the area. Between 2010 and 2020, the state saw a 31% rise in homelessness while the rest of country experienced a drop of 18%.
Glass plays as an outside hitter and currently represents Azerbaijani team Rabita Baku. She joined the U.S. national team in May 2007 and made her first Olympic appearance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helping Team USA to a silver medal where they were defeated 3-1 by Brazil in the gold medal match.
In other ventures, Glass competed on the special for the MTV reality series The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars, and While in college and attempted to become a contestant on America's Next Top Model on five separate occasions, but was unfortunately turned down each time.
