Citizen Staff Writer
By IRENE HSIAO
ihsiao@tucsoncitizen.com
On videotape, the man looks suspicious, wandering around the Kmart parking lot for no apparent reason.
Surveillance cameras then catch him grabbing a woman’s purse, dragging her to the ground and sprinting off. The woman, 76, suffered cuts, police said.
Another customer at the store, 7055 E. Broadway, chased the robber, tussling with him and retrieving the purse, but the robber escaped, said Sgt. Carlos Valdez, a Tucson police spokesman.
The video of the Nov. 23 robbery was released yesterday in an effort to catch the robber. Tucson police say you can cut your chances of becoming a crime victim by paying close attention to your surroundings. Another way to avert a purse-snatching: Don’t carry a purse when shopping; keep cash, a credit card or an ATM card in a pocket.