Woman tells how she fought off muggers in Greenway Plaza area

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman who just moved to Houston is telling a scary story about fighting of two muggers in the Greenway Plaza area.

We're only identifying her by her first name. Lydia is scraped and bruised. She also broke all her nails on her right hand. There are cuts on her knuckles.

"He runs up and he hits me like this and chopped," Lydia showed us.

Lydia just parked her car near the corner of Weslayan and Richmond Avenue. Then, as she was walking to meet a friend, she says a man attacked her from behind.

"Got me on my knees and started pulling at my purse strap," she said.

But Lydia refused to give up her purse. She had too much to lose. She was about to start a new job and needed what was inside that purse.

"I started yelling because my girlfriend is on the phone," she said. "All these people started coming out. I'm yelling. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs."

Lydia let the man have the purse, but not all of its contents. She pulled hard, the strap broke and tore the purse open.

"I turned around and all my stuff was laying on the ground and I said I'm great," said Lydia. "He didn't get this and that is what I wanted."

The robber only got her checkbook and purse, but not what she was most worried about -- her birth certificate and Social Security card, probably because Lydia learned how to defend herself.