A 56-year-old Simi Valley woman’s legal troubles worsened this week after she was caught on video confronting a seven-months pregnant street vendor and pushing her cart towards her in an incident that culminated with the peddler ending up on the pavement.
Civil rights attorneys for the vendor, identified as Mary B., said Friday in downtown Los Angeles that they will be filing a lawsuit against 56-year-old Julie Christine Sanchez for the alleged assault, calling it racially motivated.
The incident has some inexplicable implications as both assailant and victim have Spanish names. There’s been no comment from Sanchez.
Los Angeles television stations are reporting that Simi Valley Police have cited Sanchez for battery, and that she’s been ordered to appear at Ventura County Superior Court on May 14th.
Sanchez’s confrontation, seemingly sparked by her dislike of the vendor working in her neighborhood, was captured on both the victim’s cell phone and a nearby surveillance camera on Monday.
Attorneys for Mary said it wasn’t the first time that Sanchez had confronted her, which is supported by Sanchez’s words in the video.
“I told you not to come down my street anymore. You bring down my property values and I (expletive) meant it,” Sanchez says while walking her French bulldog on a leash. “You bring down my property values.”
The vendor was pushing an attractively organized cart of candy and snacks along the curb. In the video, Sanchez pushes the cart towards the woman, seemingly causing her to fall backwards to the pavement.
The incident unfolded on Monday before 4:30 p.m. near the intersection of Torrance Street and Brandon Avenue.
In the video, Mary is heard responding in Spanish to Sanchez’s aggressions. According to KTLA 5, at one point the vendor said, “Let me pass. I’m not bothering you in your own home.”
In response to Mary’s Spanish, Sanchez says, “America? English.”
“This woman in Simi Valley attacked Mary, attacked her unborn child, and attacked the street vendor community in Los Angeles,” said civil rights attorney Christian Contreras at the news conference announcing the lawsuit.
Contreras and Mary’s other civil rights attorney, Humberto Guizar, are now calling on the Ventura County District Attorney to file hate crime charges against Sanchez.
Said Guizar: “If you’re going to be attacking people because they look different and speak a different language, and you’re going to hurt them, we’re going to come after you. We’re going to sue you in court, and we’re going to use the legal system to hit you where it hurts.”
Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling Los Angeles author of Below the Line and nine other novels and nonfiction crime titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
