SANTA MONICA—On June 9, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Barbara Lowy was attacked while sitting with her family at The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf at the 200 Block of Santa Monica Boulevard.

Barbara Lowy and her husband.
Barbara Lowy and her husband. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

The suspect walked into the coffee shop and was arguing loudly on her cellphone. Lowy decided to leave, but while she was heading for the exit the female suspect grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the ground.

She issued a threat to Lowy before Lowy’s husband punched her in an effort to get her to let go of his wife.  Lowy described the incident on her Facebook page stating: “She grabbed the top, back of my hair from behind me, pulled my head and neck back and swung me around and threw me to the ground…She also said, once I was on the ground, that she was going to shoot me with a machine gun or she was coming back to shoot me with a machine gun. Either way, those were not comforting words as she was behind me.”

A woman by the name of Sara Rizo, 39, who matched the description of the suspect, was arrested around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, June 15 by officers from the Santa Monica Police Department. Rizo is facing charges that include assault and battery.