A cowardly purse-snatcher violently dragged a 75-year-old woman across the ground in a horrific assault outside a California bank this week — with the whole thing captured on video.
The elderly victim is seen desperately trying to clutch her purse after the brute grabbed onto it — and is dragged across the parking lot for several feet before the crook breaks free and runs off with the bag, KTTV News reported.
Two bystanders are seen running to the scene but the heartless thief disappears into the parking lot.
He remains on the lam.
“Property can be replaced, but the life of someone is most important to us,” Deputy Miguel Mexa of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the outlet.
“If you’re going to get your vehicle, purse or anything of value stolen, or you’re put in a situation where someone’s trying to take anything from you, let the person have it,” Meza said. “We don’t want you to be physically hurt.”
The incident happened as the woman, who was not identified, left a Bank of America branch in Hacienda Heights around 11:15 a.m. Monday, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s office has not disclosed the woman’s condition.
The mugging left some locals rattled.
“We actually moved here years ago because it was a nice community, a safe community,” Hacienda Heights resident Cristal DeLeon told NBC News in Los Angeles. “But now I won’t come to the bank alone, I won’t take my son to the market.”
Added fellow resident Mel Fong, “It’s outrageous just seeing the rise in violence.”
