NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida shopper is speaking out, days after, she said, two thieves ambushed her while she sat in her car and took off with her valuables.
Alice Barak parked in the Skylake Mall parking lot on Friday, at around 8 p.m. When she unlocked her car, she said, two thieves appeared all of a sudden near her passenger side door and reached in to snatch her purse and phone.
“I can’t sleep at night because it was a really terrible experience,” Barak said. “And I don’t wish it on anybody, and I hope that people listen to this on the TV and they be aware when they’re going somewhere, that it shouldn’t happen to them.”
Barak, 57, said she has lived in the area and gone to the mall for years, and nothing like this has ever happened.
“At a shopping mall that I never had a problem. I’ve been living here for 37 years and I never got robbed,” she said. “So I don’t understand. I was in my car, it wasn’t like I was outside, walking slowly. I was in my car. I mean, how does somebody go so fast in the passenger side, to take your purse and your telephone in a split second? It was a split second, everything happened so fast.”
Barak tried to hold onto her purse, but lost her grip.
“It was a bad, bad situation,” she said, “Somebody opening the door of your car, and you didn’t even know they were going to do it.”
Barak on Monday went door to door trying to get surveillance footage from stores in the area.
As police search for the thieves, Barak warned others to remain vigilant. “My advice is that when you go out, always look around, make sure that no one’s around you,” she said. “Material things are nothing. It’s your life that matters, and there’s nothing else in your life that could matter more than your life.”
If you have any information on this robbery, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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