It's the story of bystanders who tried to do the right thing and paid the price. Three people who tried to stop a purse snatching ended up getting hurt Monday in Myrtle Beach, one of them seriously. Now, police need your help tracking down the thief who ran them down.
Jim Roth was working his marketing job at a booth outside the Myrtle Beach K-Mart store when he saw it happen. A young woman ran out of the store carrying a handbag, followed by an elderly woman screaming, "she took my purse."
Roth and another bystander, a middle-aged woman, followed the thief to her car and tried to grab the purse back before she could get away. "That's when she started the ignition, and I knew it was going to get worse from there."
Roth nearly tore the driver's side door off, but couldn't hold on and suffered scrapes when he fell. He says the young thief slammed her car into reverse, smashing into his SUV. The other woman was in the car, still trying to grab the purse away, when she fell under the car.
"She proceeded to drive and drag that poor woman probably 50 to 100, maybe 200 feet, until she finally went under the back tires," Roth explained.
David Wright saw it from his pickup parked near the back of the lot. He's haunted by the image of a woman who tried to do the right thing.. and got run over. "I still think of it every time I stop working today. My mind goes right back to that lady and what that other lady did to her," said Wright.
Jason Clements, who was applying for a job in the K-Mart store, saw it, too. He thought with so many people going after the purse snatcher, she would just drop the purse. "She must have been just hell bent on getting away, no matter what. And I just couldn't believe it," said Clements.
Police are now looking for the woman's car... dark blue, maybe something like a Pontiac Sunbird. It has damage to the driver's door and back.
The suspect is described as a young white woman, just over five feet tall, with long brown hair. All three witnesses say the female bystander who tried to help is a hero. They have nothing but contempt for the purse snatcher. "I know she has that on her conscience and I just hope she realizes that and turns herself in," said Wright.
Police have not released the name of the woman who was run over. They say she suffered serious bodily injury and is still hospitalized.
The 73-year-old woman whose purse was stolen was also hurt. Her condition has not been released.
If you saw this crime or have information about the suspect, call Myrtle Beach Detective Tony Allen at 843-918-1905.
