NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are on the lookout for a person who robbed a woman and her elderly mother with dementia in Northeast Miami-Dade.
“I don’t know how the court systems work here with somebody that does that kind of thing,” said Leslie Dratler, Wednesday, “but I know in the heavenly courts, this kind of deed is not very well accepted — Let’s put it that way.”
Dratler and her mother were robbed in broad daylight, Tuesday afternoon.
Dratler had just parked her car in her driveway after taking her 80-year-old mother Marlene to the doctor. Marlene had a stroke six years ago and suffers from dementia.
“A gentleman walked up to our car, practically, and said, ‘Is this Miss so-and-so’s house?'” Dratler said, “and we all just kind of chimed in together and said, ‘No, wrong house.’ He took advantage of the moment. We were distracted, and we weren’t paying attention — just right up close to the house — he opened my car door and saw my purse and grabbed my purse.”
“My emotions were at first just shock, like someone could stoop so low to carry out a crime like that,” said Dratler. “We’re helping my mom, and you have to be a pretty bad person to do something like that.”
Inside her purse were her car keys and credit cards.
“We’re just grateful that he didn’t pull a gun out on us,” said Dratler.
Surveillance video from a neighbor’s house captured a dark-colored Nissan Altima driving up and down the street. The video then shows a man walking up to the family, and then running away.
“I feel like I’ve been had because I am a cautious person,” said Dratler, “but you never expect somebody to do that right in your driveway, at your house, with people all around, and that’s what they were looking for — when you least expect something like that to happen.”
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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