The moment a 69-year-old California woman was dragged behind a robber's car as she tried to stop him making off with her Gucci sunglasses has been captured on camera, with the woman saying she would do it again, taking pride in her actions.
The woman was in Alameda enjoying a snack and talking on the phone in her parked red Ford Mustang at around 3pm on Sunday, June 25, when a white car stopped behind her. The driver then walked up to her, reached inside her vehicle and grabbed her bag which contained her expensive Gucci prescription sunglasses.
The robber ran back to his car, but the fearless woman decided she wasn't going to give up her shades without a fight. So she jumped out of her Mustang and tried to stop the thief from driving off.
Shocking footage of the altercation shows her being dragged several feet before finally falling to the road. It wasn't so much her bag that she was worried about, but her prescription sunglasses.
"That was what pushed me to go after him, because I want(ed) my glasses," the woman told KTVU. "I cannot see without my glasses."
Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi said: "She reached into the vehicle, and as he was driving off, he drug her a short distance."
The woman added: "I'm pissed off because this guy was looking for somebody, and I feel violated. I feel violated, but I feel good because I put [up] a fight."
The victim, who didn't want to be named, said she was left bloodied after the terrifying ordeal and had suffered a head injury. But she had no regrets.
"For me, to fight all the way to the end, I feel good about it," she said.
The bystander who shot the footage, Bach Ha, told KTVU: "When he drove off, I think it caused her to basically just crash into the ground, and when she got up, she was liked dazed."
However, Chief Joshi has urged people not to follow in the woman's footsteps and not to resist their attackers as their safety was the most important thing.
He warned: "Personal items can be replaced, but personal safety, that's something we never want to compromise.
"My heart goes out to her. I think the natural instinct or inclination is to go try to get your property back. But there's a lot of risks that come with that. And in this case, she was injured."
A local resident, Flavia Krasilchik, also shared her concern's about the woman's choice of actions. "I'm very concerned and unfortunately, people react without knowing they're reacting," she said.
The case remains under investigation and no arrests have yet been made.
