Photos out of California are sparking outrage after a pregnant woman and a young boy begging for money in a parking lot were pictured driving off in a Mercedes-Benz.
Melissa Smith contacted San Diego TV station KGTV after she saw the panhandling pair with a cardboard sign reading "please help" get into the German luxury car and ride off.
Smith told KGTV she’s seen the couple, sometimes joined by an adult male, every weekend for two months.
Recently, Smith was filling up her car at a nearby gas station when she saw the woman and boy at the usual spot.
"They were leaving and I noticed they went into a Mercedes-Benz. I thought, 'Wow, a Mercedes-Benz?'" Smith told KGTV, adding the car appeared to be new.
According to KGTV, Smith started to drive away when the Mercedes-Benz pulled in front of her.
"Here they are counting money, laughing. Their little boy is not in a car seat or a seat belt. He's all the way in the front seat with them," Smith told the TV station.
The car drove to another location and the woman and boy put up the sign again, soliciting money from passersby.
Smith started to take pictures of the couple at the new location when the woman spotted her and began to yell.
"Next thing I know, she picked up this big boulder," Smith told KGTV. "I don't know if pregnant people can do that, but it was pretty big over her head and coming at me with this rock."
A witness to the scene called 911 and the couple quickly left the scene, according to Smith.
Police arrived at the scene and Smith provided them with the license plate number of the Mercedes-Benz.
KGTV reports they traced the license number to an address in an Encinitas, California, apartment complex where the rent is $2,500 per month. However, the resident at the address told KGTV that the couple living there before had recently picked up and left.
