North Fulton County

74-year-old woman chases down man who tried to steal her purse

By Mike Petchenik, WSB-TV
By Mike Petchenik, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — A woman who said she was targeted by a purse snatcher inside a Roswell post office said she wasn’t going to let the thief get away.

The victim, who spoke to Channel 2's Mike Petchenik on the condition of anonymity, said she was putting stamps on envelopes at the Eaves Road branch on Nov. 21 when she put her purse on the counter next to her.

“All of a sudden, this hand reaches over, which is all I saw,” she said. “I realized he’s stealing my purse.”

The victim, who is 74, told Petchenik she’d had a purse stolen from her a few years ago, so she wasn’t going to let it happen again.

She said she grabbed onto the man’s hoodie and trailed him outside to a car.

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“He’s getting in the car and tried to close the door on me, and I don’t know how I did it, I grabbed a hold of the handle and just would not let go,” she said. “Then, I did a very foolish thing because the car was running -- I went into the car on top of him.”

The victim told Petchenik two people in the front seat were yelling at the man to let her purse go.

“I went in and laid on him. I had my hand on it. He was hitting at me. He must have hit me once, because later, I did have a bruise up on my chest,” she said.

Eventually, she said the man let go and she was able to escape from the car before it took off.

"I don't advise anyone to do what I did, but I think we all need to be more conscious," she said.
"You're angry that someone would take stuff that doesn't belong to them."

The victim said several witnesses took down the getaway car’s license plate, but the tag number did not match the getaway car.

The victim said the suspect was at the branch to pick up a package in his name, Police told Petchenik they are currently working on another lead in the case.

Cox Media Group

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