COVINA >> Police arrested two of three teenage girls who they say pepper sprayed a man while robbing him of his cell phone in Covina before attempting an ill-fated getaway by boarding a bus on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
The robbery took place about 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant at Azusa Avenue and Cypress Street, Covina police Sgt. Antonio Zavala said.
A 47-year-old Azusa man was sitting in his car when two teenage girls approached his car on the driver side and asked him for a ride, the sergeant said.
While the victim was distracted by the two teens, a third young women reached into his car and snatched his iPhone from the center console of his car, officials said.
The man chased after the three girls. When he caught up with them and confronted him about the theft, one of the young robbers pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the man in the face, Zavala said. The girls managed to get away with the phone.
But the victim spotted the girls about an hour later, getting onto a bus at Citrus Avenue and Cypress Street, Zavala said. Police stopped the bust and detained three girls.
Two of the girls were arrested after the victim identified them as the girl who snatched his phone and the girl who pepper sprayed him, according to Zavala. They were described as a 14-year-old Covina girl and a 17-year-old Pasadena girl.
A third girl who accompanied the two suspects was not arrested, as the victim was not able to confirm she was involved in the incident.
Police recovered the victim’s phone from one of the girls, he added.