Surveillance video footage released by a local police department in Florida shows the moment an elderly woman was almost hit by a car during a purse-snatching incident at a McDonald’s.
The woman went outside the fast-food restaurant Okeechobee to confront the suspected thief on the night of Dec. 6, the Okeechobee Police Department said. That’s when the woman, who was not identified, was injured, Fox News reported.
The footage shows a suspect walking towards the woman, who is seating at the table near the entrance of the McDonald’s. He then leans over and takes her purse before bolting out of the establishment.
The man can be seen reaching in to take the woman’s purse at the McDonald’s in Okeechobee, Florida (Okeechobee Police Department)
The woman is then seen chasing the man (Okeechobee Police Department)
As the woman rushes outside, the man is seen getting into a silver SUV. The woman opens the driver’s side door, and she’s hit with the door as the driver moves in reverse.
The video shows the man dragging the woman before she fell to the ground as he escapes the parking lot. The driver missed the woman by only a few inches.
NBC-2 reported that she was hospitalized. ABC News reported that the suspect was arrested several days later.
She tries to open the door before the man hits reverse. (Okeechobee Police Department)
A Fox affiliate reported that Charles Alton Stratton Jr. was identified as the suspect.
The full, uncensored video can be seen here (WARNING: It may be disturbing to some viewers):
Crime Decreases in 2017
Police have not released further details about the incident. The woman’s condition is not known.
The FBI said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017 compared to 2016. Overall violent crime decreased 0.2 percent from 2016 to last year, while property crime decreased 3 percent during that time, the agency said in September, releasing data from the previous year.
Surveillance video footage released by a local police department in Florida shows the moment an elderly woman was almost hit by a car during a purse-snatching incident at a McDonald's. (Okeechobee Police Department)
“There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI said in its report.
“The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.”
These figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.
In Florida, the FBI said that Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Hialeah, Tallahassee, and St. Petersburg are the most violent cities, according to WTXL. Jacksonville recorded 106 murders in 2016, the last available data, Orlando had 84 murders, and Miami saw 55 murders.
Meanwhile, Tallahassee is considered the tenth-worst city in the United States when it comes to property crime rates, the FBI said, reported FloridaPolitics in June 2018. There were 52 property crimes per 1,000 residents in the state’s capital city.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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