Left inset: A street vendor shows her injuries after being attacked (GoFundMe). Right inset: Julie Christine Sanchez (Law Offices of Christian Contreras via KABC/YouTube). Screengrab: Surveillance video captures the attack in Simi Valley, California (KABC/YouTube).
A California woman allegedly assaulted a pregnant street vendor with her own cart after going on a racist rant in which she told the woman that she was bringing down her property values and ordered her to “speak English.”
Julie Christine Sanchez, 56, faces a battery charge, the Simi Valley Police Department said. The incident unfolded around 4:30 p.m. on April 14 near the intersection of Torrance Street and Brandon Avenue in Simi Valley, a city in northeast Los Angeles. Cops arrived on scene and found both Sanchez and the victim on scene. Witnesses told them Sanchez had knocked down the vendor.
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Sanchez, who was walking her dog, “confronted the vendor over concerns about the vendor operating without a permit and allegedly selling unsafe food,” cops said. The defendant “blocked the vendor’s path, leading to a verbal altercation.”
“During the dispute, Sanchez pushed the food cart into the vendor, causing her to fall and sustain minor injuries,” police wrote.
The vendor recorded a portion of the incident and was obtained by several media outlets including Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC.
“I told you not to come down this street anymore and I f—ing meant it,” Sanchez said. “You bring down my property values.”
Sanchez also told the woman to “speak English” and to “get out of my neighborhood,” the video showed. Bystanders apparently intervened and stopped the attack before it further escalated.
The vendor, identified only as Mary, is being represented by attorney Christian Contreras, who called for police and prosecutors to file a hate crime charge against Sanchez. He also filed a civil rights lawsuit against the defendant.
“This woman needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and we are going to hold her accountable in the civil court,” Mary’s other attorney, Humberto Guizar, told reporters, according to local CBS affiliate KCAL.
Contreras also started a GoFundMe that has raised more than $20,000 to cover medical and other expenses.
“No one should have to endure such violence, especially a pregnant woman who is just trying to make ends meet,” he wrote. “Let’s come together as a community to show our support and help her during this difficult time.”
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