Seal Beach : Police Arrest Pair in Assault on Hitchhiker

Police investigating a report of a suspicious car early Friday arrested a man and woman who were allegedly assaulting a hitchhiker, authorities said.

Mary Lee Jones, 31, of Long Beach, told investigators that she was hitchhiking in Long Beach when she was picked up late Thursday night by a man and woman, Sgt. Kenneth Mollohan said.

Jones, who was not seriously injured, told police the couple drove off the San Diego Freeway at Seal Beach Boulevard and turned onto Beverly Manor Road, a nearby side street, where she was first robbed, then assaulted.

Mollohan said that police received a report at 12:05 a.m. Friday of “a suspicious vehicle,” described as dark blue Cadillac, parked on Beverly Manor. When a patrol car arrived to investigate, he said, officers found Jones being beaten by the two suspects.

Arrested on suspicion of strong-arm robbery and assault were Sam Burkes, 40, of Compton and Lynda Fay Carter, 36, of Long Beach. Both were taken to the County Jail in Santa Ana, where they were being held on $50,000 bail.