ENCINITAS, Calif. (KGTV) -- From threats to punches, an Encinitas mother says she fought off a homeless attacker using her umbrella and it all happened in front of her small children.
Sarah Stone says her attacker, a homeless man, confronted her family outside the Captain Keno's Restaurant in Encinitas.
Stone says the incident started inside the restaurant when the man tried to get into the women’s restroom stall with one of her young girls inside.
Outside, Stone says it continued by her car. “He’s ranting about how he’s going to kill everybody, how he’s going to set the restaurant on fire. He put his hand up to my head and said, ‘a bullet to your head.’”
Stone says when the man started beating on the car window where one of her kids was sitting, that’s when her instincts kicked in.
“What if he breaks my window, what if he hurts my daughter, so I took my umbrella and I started beating him with my umbrella, which pissed him off, he tried to punch me,” Stone said.
Stone says she didn’t stop swinging the bent umbrella until the man gave up and left, but not before spitting in her face.
“I was just trying to protect myself and my daughter who was in the car who I couldn’t even reach,” she said.
Multiple people saw what was happening and called police, Stone recalled.
Stone says the man is a known nuisance in the area. Now, she’s warning other women. “He could do this to a single woman who’s defenseless. That’s really scary, absolutely terrifying.”
Stone says she has a detective assigned to her case. Police believe they’ve arrested the man.
