Woman Injured in Parking Lot Confrontation With Robbers Over Necklace

Marybel Centeno was attacked as she left a strip mall store in Fontana

A 53-year-old woman who says she will always be a "fighter" suffered brain injuries when she was attacked in a parking lot confrontation with thieves who stole her gold necklace.

"It just meant a lot to me," Marybel Centeno said. "It was really pretty."

Centeno said two men ripped the necklace, with a diamond and her name engraved on it, from her neck at a strip mall near Sierra Avenue and Foothill Boulevard in Fontana. Centeno had just left a cellphone store in the strip mall March 2 and was getting into her car when the men approached.

She tried to run after the men, who were caught on camera getting into a car.

They dropped a gun, and when Marybel picked it up, one of the men grabbed it back and pistol-whipped her.

Centeno said she ran after the men because of the necklace's significance -- it was given to her by a boyfriend who died.

"I've always been a fighter, always," said Centeno. "I will never change, never. I will always fight back."

Centeno suffered a skull fracture and must now use a wheelchair during her recovery. She recently underwent a single mastectomy due to breast cancer. 

Her daughter said the family was fighting for justice after the attack.

"Why would they go and do this to a helpless woman?" April Centeno said. "It makes me very angry."

The getaway car was identified only as a dark Mercedes-Benz with a woman behind the wheel. Investigators are attempting to determine whether the men are involved in a string of robberies in Fontana and Highland.

Investigators were working on a composite sketch.

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