Woman fights off knife-wielding man during attempted robbery in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Authorities continue to search for the man who allegedly attacked a Long Beach woman during an attempted robbery over the weekend.
"I thought he was going to rape me, so I started screaming," said Beth Quintana.
Quintana just survived the fight of her life.
"In the middle of the car is where he hit me on the head."
It was 4:20 a.m. Saturday morning on the 2400 block of Cedar Avenue in Long Beach.
Quintana was walking to her car from her nearby apartment and headed to work when she says she saw a man on his bike.
Next thing she remembers, there was a blow to her head from behind.
Quintana and the suspect hit the ground as she fought back.
"He continued to attack me and hit my head over and over. He then said he had a knife. I immediately grabbed it from his hand and it fell."
Quintana says the struggle lasted as long as 15 minutes. The suspect got away with some cash, but not her phone or purse.
Finally, someone came out and that's when the suspect got up and ran.
The suspect took off on his bike before police arrived.
He's described as a man in his 20s wearing a light-colored puffy jacket, sweatpants, and a dark hooded sweatshirt.
Quintana was treated at the hospital for a broken nose. The bone shattered beneath her left eye, her hands are full of cuts, her finger from that knife severely slashed.
The single mom says the suspect even bit her. You can see those bite marks on her hand.
"My daughter literally spent an hour getting the blood out of my hair."
Quintana says she made sure the suspect was bloody, too.
"I took my bloody hand and I wiped it down his face. I guess it was my way of just being like you. You're going to have my DNA on you."
Quintana's roommate started a campaign to help pay for her hospital bills and rent while she's now out of work. Quintana is sharing her story, hoping to get justice and save someone else from suffering her same fate.
"Someone had to see him and I would just like him to be captured."
If you know anything about this attack, please contact the Long Beach Police Departmen. If you'd like to help Quintana with her medical bills, tap or click here.