I wanted to contact you about an incident that happened to myself and my friend at the Malibu Country Mart Shopping area on March 27 at 6:10 p.m. My friend and I were walking out of Encore Malibu and a woman of large stature came out of virtually nowhere. My friend and I were casually walking and this woman turned the corner and headed straight towards me. She came at me directly with force. She was screaming in Spanish and violently started pulling my hair. I was reduced to a rag doll. I was in shock. I couldn’t move or stop it because I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. It all happened so fast!Â
I was screaming for help and so was my friend. I am assuming the woman became frightened and released my hair from her grip. She took off and, thankfully, the security guard tackled her to the ground. The police were called and I pressed changes but the officer explained that even though I was assaulted that she would only be held for less than 24 hours and back out in the streets.
I am extremely rattled and scared. I love shopping in Malibu and it is scary that in such a magical place I will always be looking over my shoulder. I know I will be OK, but if I were a child this would have been devastating. As a taxpayer and resident of the City of Los Angeles I feel compelled to speak out. I love this city but, unfortunately it seems to be no longer the city of angels.
Jaclyn Solenzio