Purse snatcher almost runs down woman, 69

7/28/2005

A man robbed a 69-year-old woman of her purse in the parking lot of a West Toledo restaurant yesterday and nearly hit her with his car as he sped away, investigators said.

Janet Block, of West Toledo, was treated at the scene for bruises and scrapes. She pulled into the parking lot of Bob Evans, 4805 Monroe St., about 7:30 a.m., parked, and went to the trunk of her vehicle to get her umbrella because it was raining, police said.

As she was putting her umbrella up, she felt a tug and thought the umbrella caught on something. The next thing she knew, a man was pulling her across the parking lot by the purse on her arm. She released the purse, and the man took it and drove off. He nearly struck her as he fled, but she stood up and got out of the way in time, detectives said.

The car fled east on Monroe. It was described as a black, four-door 1997 Saturn with Ohio license plates DY74WL. It may have some damage to the rear bumper. The suspect was described as a white male in his 20s.