The depths of L.A.'s criminal achievements never cease to amaze us. In this edition of WTF, we have a 20-year-old woman who allegedly got out of an SUV and began pummeling a South L.A.-area crossing guard after she tried to get the truck to stop for schoolchildren.

Not only that, but authorities allege that Vanessa Del Pilar Martinez, 20, and companion Jose Hernandez, 27, took the 59-year-old woman's hand-held stop sign and whistle just for good measure.

The dumb part (there's always a dumb part)? The suspects were nabbed, stop-sign allegedly in-hand.

It all happened about 2 p.m. Monday in front of 20 schoolchildren at a crosswalk at Hooper Avenue and Firestone Boulevard in unincorporated Florence, sheriff's officials said.

The crossing guard was okay — she took some bruises — and refused medical treatment.

The suspects were being held on suspicion of robbery for allegedly taking the sign and whistle.

Authorities said the pair was in a Ford Expedition when the woman told them to stop. The man started yelling, sheriff's officials said, and the woman got out of the passenger side and went to work on the crossing guard with her fists, knocking the woman down.

Of course, with all those little witnesses around, somebody took down a plate number, which led to a nearby residence.

Bail was set at $50,000 for both winners suspects.

-With reporting from City News Service. Got news? Email us. Follow us on Twitter, too: @dennisjromero.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.