(PatriotWise.com) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident outside of a Hacienda Heights bank last week in which a purse-snatcher violently dragged an elderly woman along the ground, Fox LA reported.
The incident, which was caught on surveillance footage, occurred last Monday morning outside of the Bank America branch on the corner of Pepper Brook Way and South Azusa Avenue in Hacienda Heights.
According to authorities, the woman had left the bank and was walking through the parking lot when a man ran up and grabbed the purse hanging over her shoulder. When the woman refused to let go of the purse, the man knocked her to the ground, dragging her several feet in front of witnesses.
The surveillance footage shows two men trying to intervene as the suspect takes off with the woman’s purse.
Detectives told Fox LA that there has been a string of robberies in multiple cities and counties believed to be carried out by the same group of suspects.
Sheriff’s Deputy Miguel Meza urged people not to fight someone attempting to steal their property, noting that property can always be replaced while someone’s life cannot.
The New York Post reported that the victim is 75 years old, however, she has not been identified, and the sheriff’s office said it was not sure if the woman had been injured in the incident.
Residents of Hacienda Heights told NBC4 in Los Angeles that robberies have been on the rise in the area in recent years.
One resident said her family moved to Hacienda Heights because it was a safe community. But now, she will no longer go to the bank by herself and refuses to take her son with her when she goes to the market.
The LA Sheriff’s Office is using the surveillance footage as part of its investigation, however, detectives do not have a detailed description of the suspect, NBC4 reported.
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