OAKLAND — A 51-year-old woman was severely injured Tuesday night in a Montclair district supermarket parking lot when she was repeatedly punched in the face by a man trying to steal her purse, which she refused to let go of, the authorities said.
The attack finally stopped and the suspect fled after other people in the area came to her aid, the authorities said.
The attack happened about 7:30 pm Tuesday in the parking lot of the Safeway store, 2096 Mountain Blvd.
The police said the woman was putting groceries inside her vehicle when a man suddenly came up behind her and grabbed her purse.
When the woman refused to let it go, the man punched her in the face, knocking her to the pavement, police said.
The woman still continued to hold on to her purse while on the ground, prompting the man to hit her several more times in the face, police said.
The attack finally stopped and the suspect fled on foot without the purse after some other people in the area intervened. He may have run to a nearby waiting car, the authorities said.
The woman, who sought her own medical treatment, suffered numerous cuts and bruises and swelling and a possible broken jaw, the authorities said.
Police are investigating if the same suspect was responsible for an earlier robbery a few blocks away in the 1900 block of Mountain Boulevard near Colton Boulevard.
A 59-year-old woman was sitting in her parked vehicle about 5 pm Tuesday when a man approached on foot and indicated he wanted her to role her window down, authorities said
When she would not, the man used some kind of object to break the window and steal the woman’s purse which was on the seat, the authorities said. The man may have fled in a waiting vehicle.
Detailed descriptions of the suspects were not released.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $2,500 in reward money in each robbery for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
