Two women, ages 69 and 71, were violently attacked in Brentwood, and on Friday police warned their neighbors about a man apparently targeting seniors performing a common household chore.
Sandra Haveson, 71, was taking her trash bin from the driveway to her backyard when she was pepper sprayed about 10:20 a.m. on Jan. 22.
"All of a sudden this man came and sprayed me in my face and he tried to pull my ring off," Haveson recalled.
"I was screaming like a crazy person, and he ran away and I ran in the house and I closed the garage door and called the police."
The thief wasn’t able to abscond with her ring, but Haveson suffered first-degree burns on her face and hands.
Another woman, age 69, was pepper sprayed, knocked to the ground and had her finger broken as the attacker stole her wedding ring, according to neighbors. That went down on Jan. 29, a week after Haveson was attacked.
The 69-year-old woman declined to speak on camera Friday, but family members told NBC4 the victim underwent surgery and has another operation scheduled for Saturday, though they did not say what kind of surgery.
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Both attacks happened on Tuesdays, trash pick-up day in an exclusive Brentwood neighborhood in the 200 block of South Anita Avenue.
The attacker is described as a Latino man in his 20s, who was seen wearing a green hoodie. Police said he took off with an unidentified accomplice in an orange, two-door sports car.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call LAPD’s West LA Division.
