By Tim Clifford

Pepper Sprayed
Just before 4 p.m. on March 9 police were dispatched to the McDonald’s in Westwood Village on S.W. Barton St. after receiving several calls stating that a woman was being pepper sprayed and attacked in the parking lot. When officers arrived they made contact with the victim who was holed up in the QFC nearby.

The victim told police that the night before a male she knew had been beaten and robbed on the street by 5 or 6 young black males in this area. The suspects had beaten the male victim till he was unconscious and stolen his wallet and all of his cash.

The victim woke up hours later after this incident in a yard blocks away (presumably taken by the suspects and dropped off) and walked to the police station to report what had happened. The victim was in the area to locate possible surveillance video of this robbery.

Amazingly while walking around she heard two young black males making jokes about someone they had beaten and robbed the night before so the victim began following these males. Following them to the McDonald’s in Westwood Village the suspects met up with a large group of friends. The victim called police to tell them she was following the suspects from the robbery the night before. While standing outside and trying to keep the suspects in view one of the women in the group noticed the victim and came outside to confront her.

This female suspect began yelling and pointing her fingers in the victim’s face. Fearing that the female suspect would hit her in the face the victim batted her hand away at which point the female suspect pulled out pepper spray and began dousing the victim in the face. The victim pushed through this group and ran to the QFC to call police.

Police were able to arrest the female suspect and her group of friends; however the male suspects from the victim’s robbery had fled the scene after the assault. The victim was treated for her injuries at the scene by the fire department. The female suspect was later identified as a juvenile who had a warrant out for her arrest and was listed as a missing person. She was later booked into a juvenile detention center.

Caught stealing
On March 10 officers were called to a grocery store on California Ave. S.W. about a shoplifting incident that occurred at 6 p.m. that day. One witness and the victim of the incident, both working as loss prevention officers for the grocery store, made contact with the officers.

Shortly before being called both had seen a black female in her late 20’s with a large build enter the store with a reusable grocery bag and grabbed a cart. Once in the liquor aisle this first suspect grabbed 4 bottles of Crown Royal and placed them in the cart. Suspect 1 then went to another aisle of the store and met with suspect 2,a thin black male in his late 30’s with a slim build, and put the bottles into the bag and handed them off to him. They both proceeded out the front door of the store unaware that loss prevention had been the same aisle and was following them.

The loss prevention officers asked the two suspects in the parking lot to stop and hand over the bag of liquor. The female suspect refused and eventually pushed one of the loss prevention officers (the victim) and said to suspect 2 “babe, slap this dude”. Suspect 2 then approached the victim as if he would let him look into the bag which made both loss prevention officers back off. The two suspects drove away from the scene in a white Cadillac deville.

Crimes reported between Mar. 06 and Mar. 13

Burglaries by block: 3800 block of 37 Ave. S.W., 4500 block of California Ave. S.W., 9200 block of 17 Ave. S.W., 800 block of S. Southern St., 3500 block of S.W. 106 St.

Car prowls by block: 2600 block of 42 Ave. S.W., 9200 block of Olson Pl S.W.

Car thefts by block: 2600 block of Harbor Ave. S.W., 6900 block of 39 Ave. S.W., 2500 block of S.W. Trenton St., 9400 block of 27 Ave. S.W.