HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – For the past week, Frank Penkava has been at Memorial Regional Hospital spending most of his time in a medically-induced coma after he was beaten to a pulp near his Hollywood home.
His family wants to know how it happened, and who did it.
Penkava’s sister Gina told Local 10 News that when she walked into the hospital on June 14, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“When I walked in, I didn’t believe it was him,” she said. “He was so swollen, he had blood coming out of his eyes and ears, I had to go look for his tattoos to make sure it was him.”
The incident started early that morning. Apparently, Penkava had just gotten home from work and went over to tell his neighbors to turn their music down.
But what happened next, and why it ended with Penkava in the hospital, is still unclear.
“Multiple fractures in his face, eyes, nose, cheek. Just the magnitude of what they did to him was far beyond, ‘Hey, back up, get away from me,’ kind of thing,” Gina said.
Dried blood stains are still visible on the door of Penkava’s home more than a week later.
Hollywood police are now investigating, but Gina said she’s having trouble getting updates from them.
Local 10 News also reached out to Hollywood PD for information on the case but has not heard back.
On Tuesday, Gina confirmed that someone from the police department finally contacted her and police are just now bringing in crime scene technicians to look at the scene.
Penkava’s family told Local 10 News they want the people responsible caught and charged, but most of all, they want Penkava to be able to live a somewhat normal life again.
“We’re told that he may lose his right eye,” Gina said. “We’re told that if -- they keep saying if he comes out of this, we’re going to have a long road ahead of us.”
Penkava’s family said while he does struggle with mental illness, he had been doing well lately.
And the family says even if he had gone over to the neighbor’s home and was aggressive, the beating he received went well beyond self-defense.
Anyone with information that can help police is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.