Police seek man who stole purse
South Strabane Township police are looking for a “brazen” robber who stole a woman’s purse in the parking lot at Walmart, Trinity Point, Friday afternoon and then may have used a stun gun on her as she grabbed it back out of his vehicle.
The victim, who police said is in her 20s, was sitting in a vehicle parked near the grocery side of the store with the windows down waiting for her father about 3 p.m. She told police that she saw a man walking around the parking lot.
She told police he went past her vehicle, but she lost sight of him. The next thing she knew, he was back. He reportedly reached inside the passenger side of her vehicle and grabbed her purse. He ran to his vehicle. As he was backing out of the parking space, she ran to the driver’s side and grabbed her purse to retrieve it. As she reached inside, she told police that she felt something being placed against her neck that made an electrical noise. The robber fled in his car, going past Arby’s before turning right onto Trinity Point Drive.
“We are concerned because he apparently used a stun gun on her,” township police Detective Ken Torboli said Monday. “It was very brazen, the fact that he was using a weapon. We are taking this very seriously.”
Torboli advised people to be aware of their surroundings.
“Be careful where you display your purse, and if possible use a small one or wallet that you can carry in your pocket to avoid being a target,” Torboli said. “And while your first instinct may be to fight or do whatever it takes to get your property back, you have to be concerned that the other person has a weapon. It is not worth getting injured.”
One witness said she and others trying to help were having difficulty getting their calls to go through when they dialed 911. Jeffrey Yates, director of Washington County’s Department of Public Safety, said there were no issues on their end.
“Our equipment was working,” Yates said. “We had calls coming in, including from cell carriers. We had lines open for calls. We were not overwhelmed.”
Yates checked the log and determined that the call about the robbery came in two and a half minutes after the robbery, and township police were dispatched in less than a minute. Police arrived on the scene about five minutes later.
“They were there in under eight minutes of the robbery,” Yates said.
The robber is white, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds and was clean shaven with short, dark hair. He wore a red, hooded shirt, black shoes and black jeans. He fled in a dark green or black, small, older-model sedan.
Anyone with information is asked to call township police at 724-225-8111.