TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Gut-wrenching security video captured the moment an 80-year-old woman was thrown to the ground by a purse-snatching cyclist in broad daylight.
Police are searching for the suspect who ripped an elderly woman’s handbag from her arms as she walked out of a Church in Niles, Michigan, according to a report from WNDU.
Police said the suspect approached the woman on a BMX-style bicycle Thursday, April 14, just after 2 p.m., and attempted to rip the purse out of the woman’s arms. Security video showed the woman getting pulled to the ground as the suspect continued to go after her purse.
The suspect then jumped off the bike and ripped the purse from the elderly woman.
According to WNDU, the suspect then took off on the bike before abandoning it several streets away and continuing on foot.
The woman was reportedly taken to an area hospital for treatment.
The Niles Police Department is seeking assistance in locating the suspect, who was described only as a black male in his late teens or early 20s.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Niles Police Detective Bureau at 269-683-0404, or text TIPNILESPD and your tip to: CRIMES (274637). Tips can also be submitted online at Tipsoft.com. All tips through Tipsoft remain anonymous.
