NILES, Mich. (WWJ) - Police in southwest Michigan are searching for a suspect who they say knocked an elderly woman to the ground and stole her purse outside a church on Thursday.
Authorities with the Niles Police Department said the alleged attack occurred around 2:05 p.m. outside the Methodist Church parking lot in Niles, Mich., five north of the Indiana-Michigan border near South Bend, Ind, WNDU reported.
The attacked was caught on camera as the male suspect approached the 80-year-old victim on the sidewalk while riding a BMX-style bike. According to police, he reached for and grabbed the strap to the woman's purse as he rode past her, throwing the victim to ground in the process.
The suspect then jumped off his bike and violently snatched the victim's purse.
The male suspect then took off on his bike, police said. He fled eastbound on Cedar Street and then went southbound on Fourth Street before abandoning the bicycle and fleeing on foot.
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The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment of aggravated injuries sustained from the attack, police said.
Nearby business owners Al Casperson and Jim Morris expressed their outrage over the incident to WNDU.
“Would you do that to your grandmother? What would you do to somebody who did that to your grandmother? And it just - it’s nonsensical. Yet, like I said, I don’t even have words for it,” said Casperson, owner of Casperson’s Books.
Morris, who owns Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe, mirrored Casperson's statement.
“Yeah, it’s just ridiculous. I saw it when it first came out, hit online. I’m dumbfounded," Morris said.
The Niles Police Department has asked for the community's help in identifying this suspect or providing tips. Information can be called into 269-683-0404.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted via test to TIPNILESPD and your tip to: CRIMES (274637), or online at Tipsoft.com.
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