A California teen and her mom claim they were attacked in a crowded mall parking lot and robbed of $3,000 as they clashed with another group over a parking spot amid the holiday shopping rush.
The dispute happened when Natalie Martinez, 19, and her mother, Patricia Cupa went to the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Ca. to return a sweater at one of the stores on Wednesday, according to KTLA.
The duo had made it to the packed shopping center just after 5 p.m. and had trouble finding a parking spot, forcing them to drive around the lot before the teen eventually found an open space.
Martinez honked her horn to alert the neighboring car to close their door as she pulled into the spot.
Cupa believes the other driver kept her door open “purposely.”
“She was just sitting there and that’s when I decided to honk the horn,” told ABC7. “According to her we weren’t patient enough.”
The pair said they were met by five people who jumped out of the car and began yelling insults and racist comments towards them, according to KTLA.
The four women and one male reportedly threw a drink at them before the two parties got physical.
A melee ensued as two of the women allegedly threw punches at Martinez as she fell to the ground.
A third woman grabbed her legs and pulled the teen out from between the two cars, the outlet reported.
Martinez regained her footing and exchanged several punches with one of the belligerent women according to a video obtained by KTLA.
In the video, captured by a bystander, a male can be seen going into Martinez’s Volkswagen SUV through the driver’s door and allegedly stealing a purse before getting out and returning to the back of his truck.
Cupa claimed her purse was taken during the brawl and she lost her driver’s license, credit cards and $3,000 in cash that she had planned to use for rent, bills and buying Christmas gifts.
Martinez suffered several bruises and a cut to the lip from the altercation.
The alleged assaulters quickly the Citadel Outlets, which is just over 7 miles southeast of downtown LA, while police are investigating the crime.
In September, an elderly Queens man was bludgeoned by a baseball-wielding brute when the two got into a spat over a parking spot.
Michael Magill, 51, clashed with a 72-year-old man over parking at the residential corner of Austin Street and 77th Avenue in Forest Hills around 6:50 p.m., authorities and sources told The Post.
The feud turned violent when Magill bashed the senior in the head with the bat.
The older man was treated at the scene for a bump on his head and was listed in stable condition, cops and sources said.
