Woman Pummels Purse Snatcher

A Valley College student who fought back against a purse snatcher was dragged halfway into his van Tuesday, but whacked the man on the head until she got away, police said.

The robber had pulled over in a white van and asked directions from the 27-year-old woman, said Sgt. Robert Ontiveros of the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood division.

When she approached the van, he grabbed her purse and started to drive away, but the purse strap was still wound around the woman’s shoulder. She hung on and pulled herself into the van through the door.

“She was screaming and beating on him,” Ontiveros said. “She’s tough.”

The incident began at 11:20 a.m. near Hortense Street and Vineland Avenue. The man drove for about four blocks as the woman pummeled him with her fists, Ontiveros said. Then he stopped the van and she escaped.

She managed to recover the purse, however, which the man tossed into the street before driving away.

The woman, who was not injured, lost $30 in the attack, apparently because the money fell out of her purse during the scuffle, police said. The purse snatcher escaped, but witnesses reported a partial license plate number to police.

“This is just bizarre,” Ontiveros said. “It must have been a sight to see.”