Post-holiday shopping took a gruesome turn in the parking lot of the Target store in Gardena last month when three women robbed another woman of her earrings and slashed her face.

According to CBS2.com:

The victim had returned to her vehicle after shopping at the Target in the 2100 block of West Redondo Beach Boulevard at 2:27 p.m. Dec. 27th when a woman reached through the driver's door window and yanked a three-inch gold hoop earring from her left ear and slashed her above her left eye, said Lt. Ed Burnett of the Gardena Police Department.

The perpetrator followed by pulling the earring out of the other ear and giving her an additional cut to the face. The earring-snatcher was accompanied by another female, and following the bloody grab-and-slash, the two joined a third woman who was driving a white Dodge Stratus. The three then fled the scene and are still at large. The young women are thought to be between the ages of 18 and 21. No motive for the crime is apparent, but the methods are both dangerous and a bit questionable; couldn't the ladies have just tried their hands at shoplifting some hoop earrings inside the mega-store instead of taking things to this violent and bloody level?

Gardena Police are asking that anyone with information about the robbery contact Detective Mike Ross at (310) 217-9607 or (310) 217-9670.

Photo by robholland via Flickr