Alert shoppers thwarted a man who snatched a purse from an 80-year-old Indiana woman Sunday as she was being wheeled out of a Target in Indianapolis, WXIN reported.
Janja Jordan was in her wheelchair being pushed out of the store at the Glendale Mall when a man took the purse out of her hand, the television station reported.
"Can you imagine, he robs an 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair?" Jordan told WTHR.
The suspect did not get far with the purse, however, as several people who witnessed the theft gave chase, including Jordan’s daughter. The man not only dropped Jordan’s purse when he fell in a nearby ditch, but also some of his own belongings, the television station reported. The purse and its contents were damaged, but recovered.
"I didn't even see him. I just saw the hand," Jordan told WXIN. "This hand came and jerked the purse out of my hand."
Police said the suspect also dropped his cellphone, which may make his capture possible, the television station reported.
"After we told him what happened, (the officer) said, 'Oh, by the way, we have his cellphone.’ He was so happy and in it was everything: his name, his address, his mother, his sister, his friend," Jordan said.
Target employees invited Jordan to pick out a replacement purse, WTHR reported. She still is stunned by the robbery attempt.
"I never thought in my life someone would do that to me," Jordan told WXIN. "I couldn't believe it. You see on television people get robbed and killed, but I've never been robbed in my life."
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