A 41-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday after he admitted to attacking a woman and stealing her purse after rear-ending her car in Long Beach, authorities said today.
Rodrick Smith, was driving through a parking lot on Anaheim Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue when the crash happened on April 13, 2017, prosecutors said.
Smith and the woman in the other car pulled over to exchange insurance information, but when she called her husband to get more info, Smith started punching her, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.
Smith then took her purse and tried to drive off, authorities said.
“When the victim’s husband drove to the scene to help his wife, Smith rammed his car into the man’s vehicle,” prosecutors said.
Smith managed to get away but was arrested five days later at his work in San Clemente after police identified him from security camera footage, authorities said.
Duarte Man Pleads Not Guilty to Punching, Robbing Woman and Attacking Her Husband
The DA’s office said Smith pleaded no contest on Nov. 29 to one felony count each of second-degree robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, a vehicle, and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Smith made the plea as an open plea, meaning it wasn’t negotiated with prosecutors, the DA’s office said.