Blotter: Officers Have Busy May

Officers from the had an interesting May, according to the department's Recent Law Enforcement Events reports. Police arrested people on charges of battery and shoplifting, and responded to reports of assault and burglary. In the midst of all of this, the phones went out.

Police: Woman Pulled Employee's Hair

On Sunday night, police booked a woman into jail on charges of assault and resisting arrest after witnesses said she grabbed the hair of a male employee of the at the South Bay Galleria and threw him to the ground, according to police reports.

When the officer first arrived at the scene, the woman "began yelling and cursing at security and police," police said. A man with her was trying to calm her down, but to no avail.

She advanced on the officer twice, the second time with her fists up, so the officer stunned her with a Taser and took her into custody, police said.

Insults Lead to Hospital Visit

A fight between four men on the beach near Topaz Street ended with one man in the hospital May 24, police said.

The victim, who resides in San Pedro, told officers he was waiting to meet a woman at the beach when three other men walked up and started talking to him, police said. His date never showed up, but the four men began to argue.

"When the three men discovered that the victim was from San Pedro, the men made negative comments about San Pedro," wrote Lt. Joe Hoffman in a Recent Law Enforcement Events report. "The victim felt that he was going be in an unavoidable fight with the three men, so he made negative comments about Torrance."

The men pummeled the victim and continued to punch and kick him when he fell, police said. The men ran off, and officers were unable to locate them.

The victim called a friend who drove him to the hospital, where he was treated for facial and head injuries, police said.

Woman Asks 14-Year-Old on Date

A 14-year-old boy was walking to school May 25 when an older woman approached him at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Torrance Boulevard, police said. She put her hand on his shoulder, face and arm, and she asked him out on a date.

The boy told officers that the woman appeared to be in her 40s.

"After she learned he was of school age, this did not deter her," Hoffman wrote. "She told him where they could meet if he changed his mind."

Officers filed a report.

Can You Hear Me Now? No.

Telephones at the Redondo Beach Police department stopped ringing Saturday evening because of a massive Verizon network outage, according to reports. While 911 emergency phone calls were not affected, the public couldn’t call the department’s business numbers and personnel couldn’t call outside the station.

Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach also experienced network outages.

The phones were up and running again by midnight, police said.

Burglar Breaks Into One Business to Steal From Another

Someone smashed a window and crawled into on the night of May 20, police said. Once inside, the burglar entered the business next door and stole money and other goods.

Police: Cellphone Thief Caught Red-Handed

An off-duty police officer detained a 13-year-old boy after he apparently stole a cellphone from a woman’s purse and ran off with it May 15, police said. Several bystanders at Fisherman’s Wharf yelled at the boy when they saw him take the phone, which the off-duty officer found in the boy’s possession, according to police reports.

Police kept the boy at the station until one of his parents picked him up.

Friday the 13th: Unlucky for Some

Employees at one restaurant in the South Bay Galleria discovered that a burglar stole cash from the company’s safe at some point on May 13. Detectives are looking into the matter.

After receiving a call from someone who spied two people peeking into the windows of parked cars near Robinson Avenue and Barkley Lane early morning on May 13, the Redondo Beach Police Department dispatched officers to the area.

Though the people had fled, officers searched the area, finding property scattered on the ground, according to police. Officers believe the items were taken from unlocked cars, but they were abandoned when police arrived.

Police Evacuate Redondo Union Science Building

Following reports of a student carrying a handgun at , nearly two dozen officers on May 12, where the student was last seen.

The student, who Redondo Union Principal Mary Little identified as Fernando Chavez to the Beach Reporter, denied having a gun; however, officers arrested him on battery charges in an unrelated assault on another student, police said.

Officers did not find a gun, police said.

Pepper Spray Stops Accused Shoplifter

An officer used pepper spray May 12 to subdue a person suspected of a "grab and run" from a store at the South Bay Galleria, according to police.

The officer reached the scene in time to see two suspects try to escape in their car. The passenger hopped out of the vehicle and "approached [the officer] in an aggressive manner," according to police reports, so the officer brought out the pepper spray.

The driver of the car drove off, later abandoning the car in front of a home, while the officer arrested the passenger, officers said.

Police identified the driver, and detectives will follow up on the case, police said.

For questions about this blotter, email nicole.mooradian@patch.com.