Local News in Brief : Purse Snatchers in Car Drag, Run Over Victim

Two robbers in a car grabbed an 83-year-old woman’s purse outside a Granada Hills supermarket Saturday and, with the woman desperately clutching the purse, dragged her 40 feet before running over her upper body as horrified shoppers watched.

The woman, a Granada Hills resident, was in serious but stable condition Saturday at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills. Her name was not released.

Los Angeles police are looking for the car, described as a dirty, beat-up white Camaro IROC Z-28 with a KNAC radio station bumper sticker.

Witnesses told police that one of the car’s front tires appeared to be an undersized spare that does not match the other wheels, said Sgt. Kemp Setty. One of the doors is dented, he said.

The purse snatching occurred about 5:50 p.m. in the parking lot of a Hughes Market at the corner of Devonshire Street and Balboa Boulevard in Granada Hills.

Setty said the woman was putting groceries in her car when a man tried to rip the purse out of her hands. It is unclear whether the man reached out the Camaro’s window or approached on foot, he said.

The woman refused to let go of the purse. Two men then drove off, dragging her through the parking lot until they turned the car sharply and ran over her, Setty said. The woman then released her grip, and the men made off with the purse.

Setty said the Camaro has been involved in other purse snatchings in the area and that women of all ages have been victimized.

“This has been a prevalent problem at this shopping center,” Setty said. It was the first time someone was injured in a purse snatching there, he said.