Woman pepper sprays other Black Friday shoppers

(AP)  LOS ANGELES — A woman trying to improve her chance to buy cheap electronics at a Walmart in a wealthy suburb spewed pepper spray on a crowd of shoppers and 20 people suffered minor injuries, police said Friday.

The attack took place about 10:20 p.m. Thursday shortly after doors opened for the sale at the Walmart in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.

The store had brought out a crate of discounted Xbox video game players, and a crowd had formed to wait for the unwrapping, when the woman began spraying people "in order to get an advantage," police Sgt. Jose Valle said.

"Faces were red," shopper John Lopez told ABC News Radio. "This one guy was coming up to my wife going, 'Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!'"

Matthew Lopez, 18, told the Los Angeles Times he heard screaming and yelling.

"Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up," he said.

In the aftermath, video showed dozens of shoppers milling around while employees urge them to back up and make room.

It was the only major violence reported at a Southern California store involving Black Friday Thanksgiving holiday sales.

Ten people were slightly injured by the pepper spray and 10 others suffered minor bumps and bruises in the chaos, Valle said. They were treated at the scene.

"People could have gotten trampled," he said. "Good thing there were no small kids."

The woman got away in the confusion, but it was not immediately clear whether she got an Xbox, Valle said.

"Walmart is going through register receipts to see if it was purchased," he said.

The store remained open and those not affected by the pepper spray kept shopping.

"This was an unfortunate situation. We're glad everyone seems to be OK," Walmart said in a statement. "We're working with law enforcement to provide what information we have, such as surveillance video, to assist in their investigation."

The woman could face felony battery charges if she is found, Valle said.

[notredamegirl77]

American has problems because you have racist white people complaining and standing in line at 4am just buy stuff that still cost too much money. They get sprayed and then they come on CBS and spew their racist rubbish and blame blacks, illegal aliens and everyone that they hate!!! Gotta love America!! BTW....did you hear about that white soldier being convicted for killing Afghan civilians for sport?

[billyrumble]

Give her an Xbox and have her deal with the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Problem solved, and we won't have to pay millions for police overtime.

[Acehigher]

better and less dangerous way, spray a water mist in the air over the heads of the other women. They'll drop everything and cover their heads.

[joesuburb]

She is an illegal alien. She turned herself in. The police let her go. In LA, a sanctuary city, aliens arent charged as it risks deportation. Much like you no longer need to drive with a license.

[kathy9246]

where in this story does it say the woman is undocumented ?

[seezero1]

I have at least one thing to say about Black Fridays. Sometimes it is not worth it to wait in

long lines to save x number of dollars on a product.

First of all, if someone asked you to wait in line for them, how much would you charge them.

Let's say that amount is 10 bucks per hour. Let's say you're buying a product that is regularly

priced at 150 dollars, and the sale price for Black Friday is 80 dollars. The apparent savings

would be 70 bucks (150 - 80).

Now since you can't pay yourself to wait in line, you are already "losing money" when you are

waiting in line. For this example I will define the real savings as:

150 - 80 - (number of hours you wait in line both before you walk in the store and after you get

in line to pay for the item) times 10 - (additional costs related to waiting in line or being in

the store (medicine you need to purchase if you catch a cold, medical cost if you fall down and

get hurt during the initial dash to buy your item, etc.)).

For this example let's make it simple:

Savings = 150 - 80 - 5 times 10 - 0 = 20 dollars.

In this example, I have the shopper buying something that normally costs 150 dollars for 80

dollars. The shopper had to waiting in line for 4 hours to get into the store and had to wait in

line for 1 hour to pay for his item (1 + 4 = 5). He did not require medication or get ill from

waiting in line. He also did not get hurt. Also this shopper considers waiting in line worth 10

dollars an hour.

Example two:

I have a shopper buying an item that normally costs 300 dollars for 150 dollars. He had to wait

in line for 6 hours outside in the cold. He then had to wait in line for two hours to pay for

his item. He then had to buy cold medicine for 15 dollars after he got the flu from waiting in

line in the cold. He then had to call off work for Saturday because he was too ill to come in

(He was going to make about 100 dollars for 8 hours of overtime work. For him personally, a day

off is worth 50 dollars.).

For this example:

Savings = 300 - 150 - (6 + 2) times 10 - 15 - 100 + 50 (a day off is worth 50 dollars to this

shopper) = a mere 5 dollars

He could have saved more when the item was on sale for 250 dollars during another time of the

year.

[Melchizedek11]

Tis the season to be jolly....fa la la la laaa, lala la la!

[Rodney_Hart]

She should be arrested and jailed for the holidays.

[hypnotoad72]

O, say, can u see?
by the dawn's early light?
what so proudly we hailed, at the twilights least gleaming.
whose broad logos and bright letters,
throught the perolous night,
o'r the parking lots we watched, were so gallently guzzling...

and the pepper's red glare, the spray fizzing in air,
gave proof through the night, that our cash was still there.
o, say, does the star spangled banner yet wave?
for the land of the cheap, and the home of the jobless!

[TruthForTheIgnorant]

You'd think there would be a greater chance of aprehending this woman IF the Socialist media gave her description.


I guess the description is a secret, because she is B lack!

[IrishEyesAreBlue]

I THINK YOU ARE 100% CORRECT!!!!

[hypnotoad72]

You don't seem to understand basic economics.

The media puts up articles for people to read.

The media earns money by advertising.

So they must put up articles that more people will see, which translates into more money for them.

How is this "socialism"?

I think what's going on is an example of "Capitalism".

Do you even know what the word "socialism" means?

[markedwardmarchiafava]

must have been Lt. John Pike's wife. Arrest her.