‘Lady Ninja’ pummels assailant who attacked 82-year-old friend

Her martial arts skills may not be quite what they once were, but you still don’t mess with Lady Ninja.

Authorities say that’s a lesson a California man painfully learned this week after he began shoving around an 82-year-old woman at a Fontana apartment building.

The woman’s 67-year-old friend, Lorenza Marrujo, jumped into the fray, and with a swift kick here, a finger-bending maneuver there and a couple of solid elbow smashes to the sternum, it was all over. Police arrived to find the man on the floor with one of Marrujo’s knees on his neck and the other on his chest.

Marrujo, who likes to be called “Lady Ninja” and has a black belt in jiu jitsu, said she was in her third-floor apartment Monday when she heard screams from a neighbor’s unit and went to investigate.

There, she said, she found a man attacking her friend, Elizabeth McCray.

Marrujo, who stands only 4 foot 10 and weighs about 100 pounds, didn’t hesitate to mix it up with the younger 5-foot-9, 170-pound assailant.

“I had to bend his fingers back to get him off her,“ she told the Press-Enterprise. “He was screaming because that’s one of my techniques, the bent fingers. Then I went ‘boom’ with my elbow twice in his sternum.“

San Bernardino County jail records show Donald Robert Prestwood, 59, was in custody Wednesday for investigation of felony elder abuse. Fontana Police Officer Jennie Venzor said authorities are continuing to investigate and it’s possible he could face additional charges.

It wasn’t immediately known if Prestwood had retained an attorney.

Shortly before the attack, Marrujo said, Prestwood, who once lived in the same apartment building, had shown up at her place appearing intoxicated and saying he was looking for his girlfriend. She said she chased him away with a baseball bat.

Marrujo, who once worked as a security guard, said she began studying martial arts nearly 40 years ago for personal protection. Still, she complained after the attack that she wasn’t as sharp in battle as she could have been.

“I’m getting rusty in places,” she said, adding she “would have done more damage” if she had been a bit better prepared.

McCray was impressed, though: “I wouldn’t think a little lady would have the power to do this.“

Police were impressed too, although they warned that in many instances it’s much safer to call them and let the professionals handle things.

“But in this case it worked out, and she saved her friend’s life,“ Venzor said.

“She’s tiny, she’s like 4 feet 10, maybe 100 pounds,” the officer said, adding with a chuckle: “But she’s strong.”