Man attacks woman in church parking lot

HOUSTON Texas City police say the robber knocked down an elderly woman and stole her purse in the parking lot her church.

The woman tells Eyewitness News she wishes she'd been more wary.

The 79-year-old victim says her attacker followed her to College View Baptist Church, where she was heading to Sunday night's services.

"When I pulled into the parking lot -- well they slowed down -- but then they followed me on in to the parking lot," said the woman, who didn't want to be identified for safety reasons.

A man came up behind the Texas City woman and grabbed her purse, knocking her down.

She says she wasn't going to let him just have her purse.

"I kept screaming and hanging onto my purse and uh, of course he kept jerking and yanking and in fact he was pulling me down the sidewalk," the woman said.

Meantime, inside the church, other members heard something going on.

"We heard a sound, several of us did. We thought it was like cats fighting," church member Martha Felter said.

It was the victim screaming. One church member ran after the attacker's car but fell down himself.

The attacker got away with the woman's purse, and she was left with plenty of injuries that were painful but not serious.

"I hit the sidewalk and my face hit first on the sidewalk and it loosened my teeth and knocked two of 'em out," the woman said.

The congregation is hoping for some divine justice for the man who so violently wrestled the purse away from the victim.

"Our prayer last night was for the young man," Felter said.

But the victim herself wouldn't mind a more earthly way to settle the score.

"Oh definitely I would like to have my little hands around his little neck," she said.

The victim says her attacker was tall and slim and wore a hoodie. He was riding in a dark-colored car.

Anyone with information regarding his identity is asked to contact Texas City police.