VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A man and a woman say they intervened during an assault in the parking lot of Wells Fargo at Town Center on Thursday.
Steven and Ami-Ann Lofay say they saw a man hitting and dragging a 17-year-old girl by her hair.
The Lofays tried to calm things down. "I was saying, 'Hey man. This is not right. This is going to be a charge for you. You need to stop. You need to think,'" Steven said.
Eventually, the couple said the man wound up back by his car, trying to leave. Steven reached in and got his keys, preventing him from leaving as Ami-Ann called 911. "He noticed that I had his keys and maybe that enraged him more and that's just when he attacked me," Steven said.
"I just don't like seeing that stuff," Steven said. "It's just not right."
The 17-year old's mom said her daughter was hanging out with the man, but then told him she wanted to leave. That made him angry, she said.
Steven has bruising around his eye and a scrape around his knee. The girl's mom says she's very grateful to the couple for helping her daughter.
"If I were in that position, I would want someone helping me too," said Ami-Ann. "We're not those kind of people who are not going to stop and keep going about our day."
Tyler Lamar Jenkins
Police arrested Tyler Jenkins, charging him with two counts of misdemeanor assault and destruction of property.
Court documents say Jenkins also smashed the girl's iPhone. Her mom said she was trying to call an Uber in order to leave.
Jenkins is a sailor on the USS Bataan, according to the Navy. He's out on bond.
News 3 spoke with Jenkins on the phone on Friday, but he declined comment. He has a court hearing in September.
A spokesman for the Navy released the following statement: "The alleged behavior is completely inconsistent with the Navy's high standards for personal conduct, and we are cooperating fully with the investigating authorities."
