Customers at a West Hollywood Pavilions parking lot prevented a woman and her father from leaving the area Monday after an altercation that left a security guard bleeding.
Witnesses said the woman, identified as 37-year-old Kashmire Duran, assaulted a Black security guard, Natosha Lawson, and shouted racial slurs at her. The incident was captured on video.
Lawson said the father and daughter were initially arguing amongst themselves outside the store, and when she went to check on them, Duran turned the anger on her.
“She gets a water bottle and she throws it at me and says get the f— out of here,” adding a racial slur, Lawson said.
The security guard then turned to Duran’s father and said it was time for him to take his daughter home so she didn’t hit anyone.
Duran then allegedly got out of the car and asked if she was threatening her, adding a racial slur again.
Lawson says the woman stuck her phone in her face, and when she tried to move her hand, the woman slapped her. That’s when the fight ensued, Lawson said.
“Then she catches my finger in her mouth and proceeds to chomp down on my finger,” Lawson said. The pair continued the physical fight until a man intervened and separated them.
Duran and her father then tried to drive away, but passerby stood in front of the car until deputies arrived.
At this point, Lawson said she was bleeding.
Witness Carlos Sapene started recording after he heard the exchanges in the fight. He can be heard saying, “She’s bleeding.”
“You could see the face of the security guard, that dehumanizing feeling,” Sapene said. “She grabbed dog food and started throwing it at the security guard. How do you as a human do that to another human being is beyond me.”
Duran was arrested and could face a felony charge.
Lawson was taken to a hospital and treated for her injuries. She says in her four years as a security guard, this is the first time she’s experienced anything like this.
“This is my job. I’m trying to work, to make a living,” she said. “I didn’t get up yesterday to be attacked by a crazy person, a crazy racist person at that. It really hurts me. It really makes me angry. I’m still trying to put it together.”
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