Man Arrested in 2 Unprovoked Burbank Assaults on Glenoaks
Avery Talley, 44, was arrested after two strangers were punched in unprovoked attacks minutes apart along Glenoaks Boulevard in Burbank, police say.
Burbank police arrested a 44-year-old man Wednesday after two strangers were punched in unprovoked attacks within minutes of each other along Glenoaks Boulevard, authorities said.
The suspect, Avery Talley, faces two counts of misdemeanor battery after the Burbank City Attorney’s Office filed charges following his arrest. Burbank police had initially booked Talley on suspicion of felony battery.
The first reported attack involved an 87-year-old man near the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Elmwood Avenue. The victim suffered injuries to his face, jaw and mouth, according to police. Within minutes, a second attack unfolded a short distance away in the 300 block of South Glenoaks Boulevard, where a 47-year-old woman was punched in the head while walking on the sidewalk. She fell to the ground and sustained injuries to her head and elbow.
Officers responding to the call took a suspect into custody nearby. The woman later positively identified Talley as her attacker, police said. Investigators then connected him to the earlier assault on the elderly man.
Burbank police described both attacks as random and unprovoked. No information about a motive was available.
The stretch of Glenoaks Boulevard where these attacks occurred runs through a busy commercial and residential corridor south of downtown Burbank. The area sees regular foot traffic from residents and workers moving between the city center and surrounding neighborhoods.
Random street attacks on vulnerable victims, including an elderly man in his 80s, draw particular concern from public safety advocates and community members. The 87-year-old victim’s injuries to his face, jaw and mouth suggest a forceful attack. The woman’s fall to the ground added an injury to her elbow on top of the blow to her head.
The gap between the felony booking charge and the misdemeanor counts ultimately filed by the City Attorney’s Office reflects a common dynamic in local prosecutions, where charging decisions hinge on the specific facts, injury severity, and the legal definitions that apply. Felony battery in California generally requires proof of serious bodily injury. The City Attorney filed two separate misdemeanor battery counts, one for each victim.
Talley remains connected to both cases through the positive identification by the female victim and the close proximity and timing of both incidents along the same corridor.
Burbank police have not released information about Talley’s background or whether he has prior criminal history in the city or elsewhere. No information was provided about whether he was known to either victim before the attacks.
Residents along Glenoaks Boulevard and in nearby neighborhoods including the areas south toward the Media District and east toward the Rancho corridor have long valued the relative safety of Burbank’s streets compared to neighboring communities. Incidents like Wednesday’s attacks, while not part of a declared pattern, generate real anxiety among people who walk to work, run errands on foot, or simply move through the neighborhood on a weekday afternoon.
The Burbank Police Department did not release information about any additional victims or whether Talley is suspected in any other incidents.
Anyone with information related to this case or who believes they may have been a victim of a similar attack is encouraged to contact Burbank police directly.
