Ruckus good way to foil snatch-and-grab crooks

In Saanich, B.C. last week, a woman was knocked down and had her purse snatched on a street corner. The 56-year-old victim had just collected a number of bags and her dog from her car and was standing at the corner when she was struck from behind and knocked into the bushes.

In Gary, Indiana the same day, Wal-Mart customers came to the rescue of a woman who was battling two young men trying to steal her purse. According to police, the woman, fiftyish, was loading bags into her car. Someone walked up to her from behind and grabbed the strap on her purse, trying to take it, but she put up a fight. A second individual got out of the same car and joined in the struggle.

By that time, the woman had fallen to the pavement, police said. Several Wal-Mart customers who were walking out the front doors rushed toward the woman, police records state.

In Macon, Georgia, sheriff's deputies arrested a 13-year-old boy who is accused of snatching a purse from a 73-year-old shopper. The purse was snatched as she walked from her vehicle toward the grocery store after shopping, possibly to return a shopping cart.

The teenage suspect did not display a weapon, "just sticky fingers and really fast feet," the police spokesman said. Multiple witnesses at the store chased the suspect into nearby apartments and lost him there. A resident or employee reported observing the teenager run into the apartment where he was later taken into custody.

If you’re thinking this doesn’t happen here, think again. A Wolfville woman in her late forties was targeted recently in the County Fair Mall. The snatching took place at 4 p.m. on a Friday.

The victim, who had a large shoulder bag, left Sears and was walking west. Just outside a hallway leading to the outdoors, she felt a tug on her purse. She turned and yank; the bag was gone.

“He had it. I started screaming and chased him down the hallway,” she said. Once outdoors, she saw some men behind Sobey’s take off after the thieves. Pretty soon two security staff were on the scene and two young female shoppers came to comfort the victim.

The young criminals dropped the purse, so all was not lost. One arrest has been made and the investigating officer told me last week that more are possible.

The victim wants women to be warned. “They were waiting for me by that hallway and the more I talk about it, the more I hear it has happened to others.” She suggests carrying a small purse or, better yet, a debit card in a pocket. And if you’re targeted by petty criminals “make as big a scene as you can.”

Further to that, police recommend parking in well-lit areas, not shopping alone and not walking alone at night. If you have your wallet in your pocket, wrap it in a rubber band to help it stick should pickpockets be around.

Unfortunately, though, people can do all the right things sometimes and still be a victim.