A man snatched a woman's purse and elbowed her sister in the face before hopping in a car with two women and taking off from a CostLess Market at Creekwood Drive and Yosemite Boulevard in Modesto on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old woman was coming out of the store when the man approached and pulled her purse away. Her sister tried to intervene, but he hit her in the face, according to Sgt. Brian Findlen, spokesman for the Modesto Police Department.
The man then jumped into the back seat of a dark, four-door sedan in the parking lot that was driven by one of the women. Findlen described the attacker as Latino or white, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 150 pounds with a shaved head.
The woman whose purse was stolen was not believed to be injured, Findlen said. This was the latest in a string of purse-snatchings and robberies in the past few days.
Findlen, however, said there is no information at this point to suggest that four robberies Saturday throughout Modesto, two purse snatchings Monday near 11th and K streets, or Tuesday night's incident are related.
It's also the latest in a string of reported crimes in the area north of Yosemite Boulevard and west of Claus Road -- two shootings last week near Riverside Park, one fatal, and three of Saturday's four robberies.
"The suspects need to know we will take appropriate action and any enforcement action needed to solve these cases," Findlen said. "If that means dedicating more resources to that area, it's an option we will keep available."
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