SACRAMENTO, California — A Sacramento couple is recovering after investigators said they were attacked by two homeless people outside their store.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said the man and woman who attacked them are in custody and will face charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Melissa and Thomas Jones, the owners of Dollar Thrift on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento, said it's become a constant battle to keep their business open because of the homeless problem in the area.
They said most of the homeless people that hang out around will leave quietly, but that wasn't the case on Monday.
"Today, the two people chose violence. They attacked my husband. In the midst of attacking him, I tried pulling them off of him, and I got attacked as well," said Melissa Jones.
Melissa was trying to open up her thrift shop around 10:30 a.m. when she encountered a few homeless people in front of the business. She called her husband to help her ask them to move.
"From there, the shop owner was attacked by one of those female transients that was there with an actual object that was tied to a lanyard. (She) was actually struck with it. From there, as the shop owners trying to fight back and get her off, another male transient subject jumps in and begins attacking her too," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, spokesperson for the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office said Melissa's husband was fortunately there to make the people go away.
Damariay Smith and Sherinda Owens, known to law enforcement, were later found, arrested and booked for assault with a deadly weapon.
"Just the tip of the iceberg of the big problem that's going on right now, these are not just disenfranchised folks that are displaced. They're out here committing violent crimes. They are out here in the community impacting small businesses," said Sgt. Gandhi.
The couple said in the past seven years they've also had their windows broken, items stolen and the N-word written on the building in feces. They said they've also noticed people becoming more aggressive.
"My wife could have died out here just being hit in the head with that thing. Something could have happened to me, but I feel like I can take it. But you bopped her over the head with that and I still don't know what it was. She could've been stabbed," said Thomas.
The couple is invested in their community, but they are disheartened and fearful this could happen again.
"It happens so regularly around here, like I said, but most things don't turn that violent. But I mean, they are pretty aggressive. You know, telling someone that they have to wake up and go could get aggressive. But it's every day. It might be tomorrow," said Thomas.
Thomas and Melissa Jones said they feel law enforcement is limited in what they can do. They're calling on lawmakers to make more resources available for the unhoused or come up with other ways small businesses can be helped when they are vandalized.
WATCH ALSO:
