Woman with newborn child sexually abused in upscale Los Angeles neighborhood

A Brentwood woman is speaking out after she was physically and sexually assaulted while walking with her four-week-old baby in an area she once thought was safe.

Carmina Lu says the July 15 attack happened around 5 p.m., just moments after she said goodbye to a friend and her young daughter, whom she had been talking to in the 900 block of South Gretna Green Way.

“It was really horrible,” Lu said. “I never expected something like this to happen, especially a month after giving birth to such a beautiful baby.”

She said the shirtless attacker, whom she described as a white man in his 20s with a slim build and brown hair, approached her from behind.

“He grabbed my hips with both hands and started sexually abusing me,” Lu explained.

When she tried to defend herself, the man reportedly punched her in the face, leaving her with a split lip and cuts under her eyes. She later had to have braces put in for a scalp injury.

“Thank God the baby was not touched,” Lu said. “Honestly, what scared me the most was that he took a quick look at my stroller just before he ran away. If anything had happened to the baby, I would have been devastated.”

When Lu’s neighbors heard her screams, they came to her aid.

“I am very grateful to the neighbors who heard my screams and immediately came to my aid,” she said.

Some neighbors said they had spoken to the man earlier in the day and he mentioned that his mother lived in the area and that he spoke Farsi and some Spanish.

During the traumatic ordeal, Lu said the man said something strange about a bee before running away, which she believes was his “lame excuse for attacking” her.

“I’m outraged,” Lu’s husband told KTLA. “I hope he gets arrested. Of course we don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Lu herself admits that the incident shocked her.

“I just want to be able to walk around my neighborhood and feel safe,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll have that feeling anytime soon.”

So far, the man has neither been identified nor caught.

Anyone who may recognize him or has knowledge of the attack is asked to call Los Angeles Police Department.