A man accused of trying to steal beauty supplies at the Lakewood Center Mall was arrested Saturday after he assaulted a deputy who stopped him, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The Sheriff’s Department said the deputy rushed to the mall’s Ulta Beauty cosmetics store after getting a call about a theft in progress. When the deputy tried to stop the crime, the man responsible assaulted the deputy but was taken into custody after a short struggle, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
In a post on the Lakewood Station’s Facebook page, the Sheriff’s Department said the man was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of assault on a peace officer resulting in injury. Authorities did not say how badly the officer was injured.
The department said there’s been a recent trend in thefts at beauty supply stores that “have been linked to organized crime where these stolen products are sold on the black market. These brazen suspects are often armed and fight back when law enforcement arrives to investigate.”