3 arrested in grocery cart assault on woman
Pasadena police arrested two men and a woman Tuesday in a case in which a shopping cart crashed onto a supermarket employee’s head from the top of a flagpole, critically injuring her.
Cesar Desolar, 22, of Pasadena; Jessica Alvarenga, 21, of North Hollywood; and Manuel Garcia, 24, of Los Angeles were all arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in the October incident.
“Just as an automobile can be considered a deadly weapon, so can a shopping cart,” said Janet Pope Givens, spokeswoman for the Pasadena Police Department.
The three are accused of hoisting a 50-pound shopping cart to the top of the flagpole outside the Ralphs supermarket on Colorado Boulevard. On the morning of Oct. 21, the steel cart fell 60 feet onto Ralphs employee Shantie Maraj, 62, when she untied the rope to raise the flag.
Maraj, a native of Trinidad, suffered severe spinal injuries but has no signs of brain damage or paralysis. She was released Tuesday from Huntington Hospital but still faces months of extensive physical therapy.
“It’s going to be a very long haul for her and her family,” Pope Givens said.
A five-year Ralphs employee who lives in Eagle Rock, Maraj works as a grocery bagger. Raising the American flag is among her daily duties before the store opens. Collection boxes in the store have helped raise money for her medical expenses.
Police released few details on the suspects or what led to their arrests.
“This is still an active investigation,” Pope Givens said. “We still believe there are other people who saw what happened or know what happened.”
The city and Ralphs combined to fund a $10,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. But Pope Givens wouldn’t say whether the arrests resulted from a tip, instead crediting “die-hard, good old-fashioned police work.”
Neither would police comment on whether investigators suspected any malicious intent in tying the cart to the flagpole or whether Maraj’s injury was simply the result of a reckless prank gone wrong.
“We’re not willing to determine whether or not this was just a prank,” Pope Givens said. “But even as a prank, we need people to know this is not tolerable.”
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