MARTINEZ – Two 18-year-old women are facing charges in connection with an alleged attack on a 62-year-old man last week in Walnut Creek, according to prosecutors.
Walnut Creek resident Jaycee Behnke and Concord resident Antonina Abdulwajid are charged with second-degree robbery and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
The alleged attack happened around 11 p.m. on Aug. 7 in a supermarket parking lot in the 1900 block of Tice Valley Boulevard.
Prosecutors said Behnke, Abdulwajid and two girls, ages 15 and 17, drove up to the victim, who was sitting in the passenger of a van while his partner shopped inside the store, and circled him multiple times.
When the victim exited the van and walked toward their car, which was stopped nearby, one of the girls jumped out and started attacking him, according to prosecutors.
“Abdulwajid and the other juvenile then joined the assault, punching and kicking the victim until he fell to the ground, where he was kicked repeatedly by one of the juveniles,” prosecutors said, adding that video footage and witness statements confirmed the attack.
The man was injured in the attack and robbed of personal property, according to prosecutors.
All four suspects were found less than half a mile away from the scene and arrested. The women were booked into the Martinez Detention Facility and the girls into Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall.
Behnke was arraigned on Tuesday and Abdulwajid on Wednesday. Bail for both women was set at $80,000. They are scheduled to return to court on Aug. 22 for a preliminary hearing.
If convicted of the charges, both women could face a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
The cases for the girls will proceed confidentially through the county’s juvenile court.
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