Accomplices lied in wait before attack on beach
By JASMIN PERSCH Special to the Daily Press
A young couple sustained minor injuries last Thursday when they were attacked by a group of three men.
Briana Stanley, 22, who studies advertising at the Otis College of Art and Design, had been shooting photos of her boyfriend, Ross Crooks, 23, when the assault occurred along the 1600 block of the boardwalk, near Chess Park. The incident was within short walking distance from the couple’s beachfront home.
According to police, at about 8:40 p.m., the two were harassed by a man who got uncomfortably close and repeatedly asked to use Stanley’s phone, before trading punches with Crooks.
Soon after, two other men ran up and hit Stanley, who dropped her friend’s digital camera and her own cell phone. She sank to the ground and laid there in fetal position screaming, Crooks said.
“I was scared for her sake, first of all, because I didn’t know their intentions,” he said. “They hit me and so my natural reaction was to hit them back.”
Crooks said he brawled with the three men before chasing them off, but not before they stole the camera and cell phone, valued at more than $1,000. Crooks contends he chased the men to their car — a black Saturn station wagon — until they attempted to run him over with it.
According to Crooks, Los Angeles County lifeguards were treating Stanley upon his return. The police and several witnesses soon followed.
“It happened quick, so they (witnesses) didn’t really have a chance to jump in,” Crooks said. “Everyone was really cool and helpful.”
According to the couple, Stanley sustained a gash above her eye, while Crooks walked away with a black eye and bruises to his back.
“We’ll be smarter about it next time,” Crooks said. “In retrospect, we weren’t necessarily aware of our surroundings.
“We both consider ourselves pretty lucky.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 1, 2005. Read the original PDF.