By Lookout Staff

April 1, 2021 -- Two Wisconsin men were charged with felony assault Tuesday after attacking a couple riding scooters near the Santa Monica Pier Sunday night, according to police.

Officers responding to a reported armed robbery on the 1700 block of Ocean Avenue at about 10:53 p.m. met with the two victims who described the incident.

The couple explained that "they were riding scooters on Ocean Avenue when they were accosted by three males," said Lt. Rudy Flores, the Police Department spokesman.

"During their encounter, one of the males lifted his shirt and displayed what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband," Flores said.

Two of the suspects began to physically assault the male victim, he said.

"At one point one of the suspects snatched the cellphone from the female victim and threw it to the ground, preventing her from calling for help," Flores said. "Both suspects then fled the area."

Shortly after meeting with the victims, officers located Treyton Thomas Halfman, a 21-year-old black male, and Lavonn Shawn Johnson, a 21-year-old white male, both from Wisconsin, police said.

The victims identified them as the suspects who assaulted them, Flores said.

"Officers recovered a handgun with a high capacity magazine (15 rounds) on suspect Johnson," who they later discovered had a no-bail warrant from Wisconsin, Flores said.

Both men were taken into custody without incident, he said.

Halfman and Johnson were each charged with assault to commit great bodily injury,

Johnson was also charged with preventing someone from reporting a crime and possession of a loaded firearm.

Anyone with additional information pertaining to this incident should call Detective Larios with the Criminal Investigations Division at 310-458-8937 or Santa Monica Department’s Watch Commander (24 hours) at 310-458-8427.