SOUTHWEST RANCHES, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman who was dragged when robbers attempted to steal her purse while at a Broward gas station is describing the fear she felt during the ordeal.
The victim, Patricia Cox, was dragged by a moving car, late Friday morning after she pumped gas at a Shell station.
“My grandchildren could not have a grandmother,” she said. “I just think enough is enough, and I think you should be able to go pump gas at a Shell station at 11 o’clock on a Friday morning without being in terror.”
Cox said she was pumping gas at a Shell station on Sheridan Street, west of Interstate 95 when a silver sedan pulled up next to her. Her doors were locked, so the man in the other vehicle broke her window before grabbing her purse.
“They were in my car. They damaged my car. They took my stuff,” Cox said.
When Cox ran around to the sedan to snatch her purse back, one of the robbers grabbed both her arms through the car door and shut it, while the driver sped off, dragging her through the parking lot.
“And I was screaming ‘Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!'” she said. “At no time did I think when I went to grab my purse that I was going to get into the situation I got into. I didn’t realize I was running until I saw the video.”
She said the robber then tried to grab her phone from her hand.
“It affected me to see something like that in my 17-year career,” said Davie Police Department Detective Johnnie Bennet. “They easily could have let her go.”
The robber eventually let Cox go, and she was badly bruised from the incident. However, she said she would do it all again.
“I was raised where you don’t take what’s not yours. I worked hard all my life, and it was my purse, and he had it, and I went to get it,” she said.
Police believe the vehicle was a silver Chevy Malibu.
If you have any information on this robbery, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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