Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA is an upscale, open-air mall with high-end retail outlets from Armani to Nieman-Marcus to Versace. The Hollywood glitterati, the well-heeled, and people who just want to see how the other half lives and enjoy the beach weather and serene atmosphere flock to this 57-year-old shopping resort. Despite the crime sprees occurring in the bordering counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, this little pocket of sanity has managed to escape the waves of lawlessness plaguing much of California. 

Until Tuesday, that is, when a botched robbery attempt resulted in the death of a 69-year-old woman.  

A 69-year-old woman was killed after a robbery attempt Tuesday afternoon at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, police said.

Officers responded to the area near the Barnes & Noble bookstore around 3:30 p.m.

According to the Newport Beach Police Department, the woman and her husband were walking when two suspects suddenly approached them.

They tried to rob the couple and a struggle ensued, police said. The suspects then tried taking off in a white Toyota Camry.

"One of the suspects ran while the vehicle fled and actually struck the female victim," said Newport Beach Police Public Information Officer Steve Oberon. "The male suspect that ran got back into the vehicle at which point some rounds were fired from a handgun and the vehicle fled the scene."

Initial reports said that the woman had been shot in the course of the robbery, but these reports were revised to reflect the new information from law enforcement. Other reports stated the woman had been dragged by the suspect vehicle as they took off. This was a horrific act that the woman's husband had to witness and a terrible way to die.

As predictable as the sunrise, two of the suspects were apprehended in: Los Angeles County.

A total of three suspects were taken into custody after a brief pursuit.

Police said one suspect was arrested in Cypress and two others were arrested in South Gate in Los Angeles County.

This criminal act puts a finer point on the horrors that California citizens continue to endure because of this brazen and felonious element that is only emboldened by soft-on-crime DAs like George Gascon, watered-down laws like Prop 47, and the rampant homelessness that coddles addiction and unmasks violent tendencies. 

In San Francisco on Monday night, 74-year-old Corazon Dandan lost her life when she was pushed in front of a moving BART train by a homeless man. Notice how these crimes specifically targeted the vulnerable elderly. These horrors shine an even stronger light on the citizen and law enforcement-led fight to take back California from the criminal takeover through the reform of Prop. 47. This coalition was successful in getting the measure on the ballot for the upcoming November elections, despite California Governor Gavin Newsom doing all he could to thwart the ballot measure, which would gut what he considers his signature piece of criminal justice reform. 

In a final, desperate act, Newsom tried to push through the legislature his own competing initiative, which did nothing in the way of reforming Prop. 47 or addressing the rampant crime and fentanyl deaths that have become the hallmark of his state. Late Tuesday, Newsom abandoned his calculated plans for his larger calculation of ascending to the Oval Office. Now that they do not have to contend with his meddling, Californians are free to fully address how to turn their state around through this reform measure and other means. 

If there is another bright spot that can be found, it is that the robbery attempt and murder of this woman occurred in the City of Newport Beach in Orange County. Both the Mayor of Newport Beach and the Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer do not believe in coddling criminals: in their language or in their actions.

When we put up billboards across Orange County and on major freeways coming into our county warning thieves that if they steal, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute, it wasn’t just a catchy slogan. We mean it. pic.twitter.com/Wh9u825qh2

— OCDA Todd Spitzer (@OCDAToddSpitzer) April 19, 2024

Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill lashed out at the suspects, calling them "creeps'' and decrying the "stunning, staggering'' attack.

"Newport Beach is a safe community and we're mourning the loss of someone,'' he said. "Frankly, to hell with these guys ... These are thugs. Every community is now dealing with this. We have to do better as a society. We cannot tolerate this.''

O'Neill praised law enforcement for collaring the three male suspects, but he said, "None of that brings her back.''

It does not. But because the elected officials in Orange County take care of their citizens and take crime seriously, that husband will at least get justice for this uncalculable loss.