In what seems to be part of a recent crime trend, a group of approximately three dozen bike teenagers invaded a supermarket near the USC before flying to the store and attacking two men with homophobic insults and rocks.
Their actions follow a similar model of reports from large groups of adolescents on flying bikes in stores and attacking drivers across the city in recent months.
The police arrested at least two people, the two minors, as part of a previous violent attack on a driver near Beverly Hills in February.
In the latest incident, a group of adolescents went to the Ralphs market on South Vermont avenue near the USC around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, according to witnesses and distribution reports by emergency radio. The teenagers stole bottled cocktails, Gatorade bottles and other articles on the market, according to Bryan Benson, who was in the cash line with her husband at the time.
“We heard someone screaming:” Oh, they fly “, said Benson. “It sounded almost comical.”
He started registering on his mobile phone while several teenagers ran to an exit with articles in their arms while a security guard shot them. An alarm can be heard ringing inside the Benson mobile phone recording store. Several teenagers returned to the store several times and threw items from the store employees. At one point, a security guard used peppery gas on adolescents, said Benson.
Once outside the market, Benson and her husband saw the teenagers gathered near their car. The couple went up in their vehicle and Benson klaxed to encourage adolescents to move away. Some of them have moved, but others have not done so, said Benson.
It was then that adolescents started making homophobic comments, said Benson. In her Dashcam video, Benson can be seen to stop his car while her husband drives in a window to ask the teenagers to repeat the insults. Teenagers asked if they were gay, said Benson.
Half, the men said they were together and kissed.
The teenagers near their car shouted, and as Benson was leaving, a teenager threw his body in the driver’s side of their vehicle. Other teenagers can be seen in the video that strikes Benson’s car. Benson said he had left the car with peppery gas and that her husband came out with a paralyzing pistol. They hunted the group near their car and Benson used the pepper spray at least once when several individuals approached the car again.
“I think we are both put into action, understanding that we were surrounded by adolescents who made immediate damage to our property and posing an immediate threat to us,” said Benson. “None of us was interested in being passive victims of a crime of hatred in our own district.”
As the two walked away, someone launched a rock on the driver’s side, Dash camera images.
Los Angeles police said Benson’s window had been damaged and reportedly reported with deadly weapons and vandalism.
Police said the investigation was underway and had no additional information. The LAPD said they could not say if this group of teenagers was linked to other incidents that have been reported in the city in recent months.
A spokesperson for Ralphs’ parent company, Kroger, said they were aware of a group of young people who took items from the store without paying.
“Although no injury has occurred, we take the safety of our partners and customers very seriously,” the statement said. “We reported the incident to the local police and fully cooperating with their investigation. As always, we continue to take proactive measures to maintain a safe and secure environment in our stores. ”
Benson said he and her husband are now planning to buy a firearm.
“What is crazy since the threat we have in mind is a group of college students,” he said.
Benson, creative director of a marketing agency, said that he had created a website for public reports on adolescents.
About two hours before the couple’s meeting with the group, a person was surrounded by bicycle adolescents before being struck in the face in the Village of the USC, according to the crime newspapers reported at university.
USC campus police did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
California Daily Newspapers
