A college student told NBC 7 a woman tried to scam her out of cash before assaulting her and leaving her with a bloodied and blackened eye in the parking lot of a popular Mission Valley shopping center.
The attack happened on Nov. 25 after the 19-year-old San Diego State University student, who wished not to be identified, picked up her food from her favorite restaurant, Pei-Wei.
She was inching out of the parking lot onto Camino De La Reina when she noticed a couple walking towards her car. Moments later, she saw what she believed was the woman intentionally falling and slamming into the front end of her car.
“She like looked at me in the eyes and slowly fell down and I rolled down my window and I was like, ‘Are you OK?” the student said.
Apparently the woman was fine because that's when the SDSU sophomore said the money grab began.
“She walks up to my window and she's like, ‘How much cash do you have on you right now?’ I said ‘I don’t have my purse,’” she said.
Though she offered to pay via the Venmo app or bring back cash from home, that’s when she says the violence erupted and she was punched in the eye.
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The violent episode rattled the 19-year-old’s sense of safety. She says she’ll take a break from going to the Mission Valley Pei-Wei.
“I used to walk home from parties by myself thinking I’ll be fine. I haven’t done that at all. I always call someone or an Uber. I just hate going places by myself,” she said.
The victim says the attack is an unfortunate reminder to always be on alert because people can try and take advantage of you.
Police say they’re looking for surveillance video, but for now, they believe this was an isolated incident.
There’s only a vague description of the attacker at this time.
She's about 5 feet tall and overweight, and had her hair in two French braids.
