Victim speaks out after attempted robbery caught on camera aboard Metro train
A jarring robbery attempt was caught on camera aboard a Metro train on Wednesday, as a woman attempts to forcibly take a man's bag filled with baby formula while other passengers looked on.
Los Angeles Police Department says that the incident happened aboard the Expo line at around 12:30 p.m.
Video shows the dramatic moments that the woman stands over the man, attempting to rip the cross-body bag away from him as he refuses to let go.
"As a last attempt, the woman pepper sprayed the victim, then took off," police said.
The moments are caught on video as other passengers flee towards the back of the train while the spray fills the cabin.
A woman who witnessed the entire ordeal noted that the two accidentally bumped into each other at one point, resulting in a confrontation that saw the female suspect berate the man for several minutes before things turned physical.
"He was just saying, 'No, no. She can't have this. My baby, my baby,'" Andrianna Chambers-Robinson, who shot video of the chaos, recalled. "He was willing to fight for whatever he had for his baby."
On Thursday, just over a day after the brazen robbery attempt happened, KCAL News sat down with the victim, Samuel Nix.
Nix, who does not speak English, said in Spanish that he accidentally bumped into her, which sent her into a tirade.
As she continued to berate him, he simply turned his back to her in hopes of de-escalating the situation. It was then that she got physical.
He says that he wouldn't let go of the bag because it contained formula that he was brining to his sick eight-month-old baby at the hospital. The bag also contained his ID card to get into the hospital.
Despite the jarring incident, Nix says he doesn't plan to change his usual source of transportation because that's the only way he has to get around. Even though he's angry that the incident happened, all stemming from an accident, he doesn't wish any harm on the woman involved.
LAPD is still searching for the woman, who can be clearly seen in the video, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, shorts and red-and-black-stockings.