Homeless Man Attacks Three Women in Santa Monica

A suspect has been arrested following the attack of three unrelated women. The incident occurred around 9:45 a.m. on a beach just north of the Santa Monica Pier. The suspect, Jawann Dwayne Garnett (32) allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old girl and later tried to drown an elderly woman.

A homeless woman who has been living on the beach, Jenna Wilker (25), witnessed the entire incident and immediately jumped in to help the young girl.

"It was pretty violent, I ran over and got the dude to let go of the woman," she said. "I pushed him off of her and he clocked me pretty good in the face."

After Wilker threw him off, Garnett went after the young girl a second time and choked her on the ground, when Wilker once again got involved.

“Cops tell me if I hadn't gotten there when I got there, she probably would've been dead,” she said.

The man tried to bite Wilker’s ear off in retaliation. After he tried to attack the young girl, police say that the suspect dragged another victim, an elderly woman, into the ocean and tried to drown her, when he was stopped by family members and lifeguards in the area.

Garnett is a registered sex offender and was booked for attempted murder and other felonies. The young girl was taken to the hospital for serious but not life-threatening injuries, but is expected to recover. The elderly woman is also expected to fully recover.

This attack is just the latest in a slew of violent incidents along Santa Monica beaches. In the last month, a homeless man tried to rape a young jogger, and another assaulted a 73-year-old woman. Wilker blames the increasing violence on rising meth use.

Still shaken by the incident, Wilker says that she was just happy to be there in time. She grew up in the foster care system and has been living on this beach for over a year now.

"I am torn up a little bit. She's young, and I know what it's like to be a young girl in a scary world," she said. "There were people on the beach, men on the beach, and I was the only singular person to run over and help this young lady."