Purse-Snatcher Knifes Burbank Pair

An elderly Burbank couple were stabbed by a purse-snatcher outside a bank Friday but were not seriously injured, Burbank police said Saturday.

Mary Hart, 75, was waiting for her husband outside the Bank of America in the 3200 block of West Magnolia Boulevard when a woman opened the car door and began stabbing her in the arms and chest, Lt. Art Moody said. “She didn’t even realize the woman was reaching for her purse,” Moody said.

Moody said John H. Hart, 75, saw his wife struggling with the woman when he returned but was unaware she had been stabbed. When John Hart tried to wrestle the handbag from her, the woman assailant turned the knife on him, Moody said.

“The woman shoved him away and took off running,” Moody said. The purse did not contain much money, he said.

Mary Hart was treated at St. Joseph Medical Center for three severe cuts on her left arm, a deep cut on her right arm and a wound in the chest. She was released Friday. Her husband was cut in the chest but did not require treatment.