A Jack in the Box employee was treated for burns to her chest and later released from hospital on Saturday, March 30 after a 53-year-old homeless woman threw hot coffee on her.
At 7:10 am officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant located at 2423 Wilshire Boulevard in order to investigate the report of an assault inside the eatery.
When the officers arrived they spoke with an employee of the restaurant who told them the suspect had entered the premises shortly after she (the employee) had finished brewing fresh hot coffee and placed the self-serve coffee dispensers in the appointed position in the restaurant.
The suspect had purchased a cup of coffee and then filled her cup.
The suspect had then returned to the counter and asked the employee where the coffee cup lids were to be found.
The employee directed the suspect to the place where the lids were stacked and suddenly, and without any warning at all, the suspect became angry, yelled at the employee, and then threw the entire cup of hot coffee onto the employee’s chest.
The suspect then calmly walked out of the restaurant.
The officers detained the suspect a few blocks away and arrested her after she had been identified.
When the officers arrived at the Santa Monica Jail with the suspect they took her to the room where the booking process was to be completed.
During this procedure the suspect again became angry and attempted to punch a female jailer in the face.
This homeless woman was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on jail personnel. Bail was set at $30,000.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
