NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- A 67-year-old woman was walking through the parking lot at the Publix in the New Smyrna Beach Regional Shopping Center just before 2 p.m. Saturday when a woman jumped out of a sport utility vehicle, snatched her purse, jumped back in and drove off, New Smyrna Beach police said.
Mary Burnazos of New Smyrna Beach was treated at the scene for minor injuries in the May 2 incident, which is the 51st ranked story of 2009.
"(She) stated the suspect approached her while she was walking through the parking lot," police Sgt. Eugene Griffith said. "The suspect had just exited a white SUV and immediately grabbed the victim’s purse. The suspect gained control of the purse after a brief struggle and fled eastbound on S.R. 44."
"(She) stated the suspect approached her while she was walking through the parking lot," police Sgt. Eugene Griffith said. "The suspect had just exited a white SUV and immediately grabbed the victim’s purse. The suspect gained control of the purse after a brief struggle and fled eastbound on S.R. 44."
The SUV was described as mid-sized and white, possibly with blue lettering on the tag. The robber was described as a white woman, about 5 feet 6 or 7, 30 to 40 years of age, with short blonde curly hair. She was wearing a white polo-style shirt and shorts. This was the second such criminal incident in a span of five minutes and fourth in two days along the commercial stretch of S.R. 44.
Earlier, a woman in her 80s refused to give money to a teenage boy who tapped her on the shoulder when she got into her car in the nearby K-mart shopping plaza. And on Thursday and Friday, separately described white men robbed the GNC store and the Sprint store on consecutive days.