Warning issued after woman injured in Red Deer purse snatching

Police in Red Deer are warning the public after a third purse snatching reported in recent weeks where a womanwas sent to hospital suffering serious injuries.

The woman was walking in the parking lot of a strip mall at 39th Street and 40th Avenue in Red Deer around 4 p.m. on Thursday when her purse was grabbed by a female suspect who fled to a red Ford F150 truck.

The victim tried to get her purse back and the truck sped away, dragging her for a short distance. The woman was taken to hospital suffering serious but non-life threatening injuries.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|RCMP uniforms, handcuffs found among stolen goods at southwest Calgary home
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|Star Trek museum beams out of Vulcan

The robbery was similar to two other recent purse-snatchings reported in Red Deer.

One happened just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday when a woman reported having her purse taken from a shopping cart in the Parkland Mall parking lot.

The suspect was a white man believed to be between 25 and 30-years-old who fled in a red Ford F150 truck.

Then on Thursday, a woman reported seeing a red Ford F150 circling the Bower Mall parking lot before a woman jumped out of the passenger seat and grabbed her purse.

Anyone with information is asked to call Red Deer RCMP at 1-403-343-5575 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.