Hermosa Beach Police Officers responded to a call concerning an alleged attempted strangulation around 6 p.m. Saturday, resulting in the arrest of a man whom, police said, claimed to have no recollection of the incident.
According to several witnesses, a 49-year-old woman who was with her 9-year-old niece was slapped on her rear-end by the suspect while she was waiting to cross Pacific Coast Hwy., and then attacked by the man.
According to police, the suspect, identified as Joel Jimenez, 29, grabbed the woman by her hair and began to strangle her so hard she could barely yell “Help! Call 9-1-1.” Police said bystanders thought the attack may have been a joke because it was so unbelievable.
Witnesses said that the little girl began screaming and several people called 9-1-1. Jimenez allegedly continued to choke the woman, while covering her mouth with his hand to prevent her from breathing.
While the woman was being attacked, a man who appeared to be a construction worker ran over with his power drill and convinced the man to let the woman go. Another witness took a photo and called the police. The HBPD were unable to provide the name of the construction worker.
“He [the man with the drill] came up and verbally threatened him and I understand he then released his hands from around the victim’s neck,” Interim Chief of Police Michael McCray said.
“It’s just wild, and a good thing those people stepped up before it got worse,” said HBPD Sgt. Bob Higgins.
HBPD officers arrived within 39 seconds of the emergency call. They then wrestled the man to the ground and arrested him without further incident.
“We don’t have the alcohol content back, but he had been drinking,” said McCray. A photo shot by a witness shows Jimenez in a blue shirt wearing a nametag that said, “Hello, my name is Pumpkin.”
Jimenez, a resident of Castaic, was booked on “assault likely to cause great bodily injury.” According to police he told officers he was in Hermosa to do a pub crawl with fellow workers and was not sure how he ended up in handcuffs.
“We’re very fortunate that she’s okay and that we had so many witnesses,” McCray said. “We will be prosecuting Pumpkin.”
Anyone with additional information is urged to contact the HBPD at (310)318-0360. ER
