Purse grab drags woman in Modesto parking lot

During a drive-by purse snatching at the Walmart on McHenry Avenue on Tuesday evening, a woman was dragged briefly until the strap on her bag broke, police say.

The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. as the woman was loading items into her trunk, said Lt. Brandon Gillespie. Someone drove past her in the parking lot aisle, reached out and grabbed the purse. It does not appear the woman required medical treatment, Gillespie said.

There was no description of the thief, but the vehicle was described as possibly a blue or black midsize car.

There have been a few of them in the past month or so, but such drive-by purse grabs – either from shopping carts or from victims’ arms – aren’t new. “It kind of goes in waves,” Gillespie said.

Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves noted such a crime in an April 8 Bee story about an attempted carjacking of a woman. “Any time we’re distracted, it opens us up to becoming a victim,” she said. “We need to be aware, constantly scanning our surroundings. We had a lady last week who had her purse snatched from a guy in the mall parking lot. He did not even get out of his car.” He just rolled up alongside her, reached out his car window and grabbed it as she walked. “They don’t have to work hard to be a criminal anymore,” Graves said.

And on April 4, Modesto police arrested a man in Ceres accused of stealing a purse from a woman in the Costco parking lot in northwest Modesto. The purse was snatched from the woman’s shopping cart about 4:20 p.m. Through the GPS on her cellphone inside the purse, a vehicle was located on Kansas Avenue and a Modesto officer tried to stop the driver, Gillespie said.

During a pursuit, the driver threw the purse out the window, but the phone remained in the car, allowing officers to later find the vehicle in Ceres, Gillespie said. A perimeter was set up and the man was arrested when he tried to flee. Lonnie Jackson, 45, was booked at the Stanislaus County jail on suspicion of evading an officer, theft, resisting arrest and violating parole.

Drive-by purse snatching is somewhat of a specialty of Jackson’s, Gillespie said. “Lonnie Jackson had priors on that in the past. He was pretty prolific on that,” the lieutenant said.

He said criminals take a much greater risk in taking a purse from a victim’s person than, say, from a cart or a car. “If you take by force or fear, now you’re talking robbery” as opposed to theft, Gillespie said. “And the potential danger in what could happen to the victim is absolutely extreme,” which could lead to much more serious charges should the victim be badly injured or even killed.

Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at (209) 521-4636; by sending an email at www.modestopolice.com/CrimeStoppers; or by texting to 274637 by typing “Tip704” plus the message and be eligible for a cash reward.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Purse grab drags woman in Modesto parking lot."