HOUSTON — A victim who didn't want to be identified said she still can’t listen to surveillance video from a recent crime committed against her.
"Because you can just hear the terror in my voice, you know?” the woman said.
It was around 2:30 p.m. Friday at an Asiatown-area shopping center on Bellaire near Beltway 8.
"They were already parking in the parking lot scouting people,” the victim said.
She said she noticed the suspect, who got out of a silver sedan, crouching near her rear fender before suddenly opening the door and grabbing the purse she already had on her arm.
“I didn’t know if he was going to hurt me," the victim said. "If he was armed or anything. So, we were tugging, pulling. I screamed the entire time to draw attention to myself.”
She also honked her horn repeatedly, which police also recommend you do.
In this case, the victim estimates everything was over in less than 10 seconds before the suspects got away with mostly just her sense of security.
"People were all around, but they couldn’t do anything, you know, it was all just so fast," the victim said.
We've previously reported on “sliders” at work at gas stations when victims are outside of their vehicles. But another recent incident involved a victim seated inside her car at a shopping center when a suspect successfully got away with her purse by quickly opening the passenger door.
"My car automatically unlocks when the gear shifts to park," the victim in Friday's case said. "So, there’s a way, if you Google it or go to your dealership, that you can figure out how to disable that."
Meanwhile, she said she hopes sharing surveillance and still images of the suspect who targeted her helps make at least one arrest.
“I don’t know if there’s a way to stop these crimes, but if the word’s spread, you know, everyone’s more aware,” the victim said.
This victim officially filed a police report Sunday morning.
Call Houston police or Crime Stoppers with any information.