Crystal Luong
Assistant News Editor
A Pepperdine student and his two friends became victims of seemingly random violence in a Santa Monica parking structure during the early morning hours of Sept. 26.
Senior Brett Roberts was stabbed in the face, suffering deep lacerations on his right cheek after a confrontation with unknown attackers. His friends, Darvin Small, 21, and Mark Kel, 25, both incurred bodily bruises and facial swelling. All three were transported to UCLA Medical Center for treatment.
“It was a really traumatic experience,” Roberts said. “I didn’t know if I was shot or stabbed. I just saw blood everywhere.”
The friends had just left a birthday party about 2 a.m. at Gotham Hall club on the Third Street Promenade when four men stopped them in front of their car on the first floor of the parking structure, according to Small.
“One guy asked, ‘Where you from?’” he said. “Another guy from behind slapped me in the back of my head.”
A fight then ensued, Small said. “There was no way to avoid them.”
Police responded at 2:05 a.m. to the assault in progress on the 1500 block of 4th Street, according to Lt. Frank Fabrega of the Santa Monica Police Department.
One of three male victims had fled the parking structure and flagged down police officers, Fabrega said. When officers arrived, the suspects had left in a vehicle and were not apprehended.
There are between three and 10 black male suspects in the case, Fabrega said. Two female also were present, but it is unknown if they were involved in the assault.
“One of the suspects mentioned a gang affiliation,” Fabrega said, but SMPD has not categorized the incident as gang violence.
Roberts said he did not recognize his attackers.
“I don’t know them whatsoever,” he said. “It was pretty much a random act of violence.”
Statistics show that violent crime in Santa Monica fell 14 percent last year compared with 2002, according to a report released in January by SMPD.
It also shows the city’s overall crime rate is at its lowest point in more than four decades.
Roberts said the incident has affected his views on safety in general, however.
“It changes your perspective on everything,” Roberts said. “I’m kind of paranoid everywhere I go.”
SMPD’s investigation of the assault is ongoing.
10-07-2004