WASHINGTON, DC -
The spate of purse snatching at area gas stations continues. A gun has now been displayed at one of them, adding an element of menace to the crime wave.
There have been five purse snatchings from gas stations in Prince George's County since Wednesday. Police released a security video recorded Wednesday from a Sunoco station in Landover showing a young man grabbing a woman's purse through the rolled-down passenger window of her car. He then jumped back into a dark SUV and he and his driver sped off the lot.
A 24 year old woman who lives in Southeast D.C. has now come forward with a story of a similar incident that occurred on July 16th. She was filling her car at the Exxon gas station at the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and Alabama Ave., SE at 4:30 in the afternoon. A car with two young men drove up and stopped.
"One of the guys just opened my car door, [and] went right in," the victim told us. "Another guy, [who] was inside of the car, waved a gun towards me to let me know that he had a gun. And they just grabbed my stuff and they just sped off."
The victim prefers to remain anonymous. Our victim had an i-phone in her purse, and, using a locator application, she tracked it.
Detectives, she says, seemed disinterested. She called 911, and responding officers -- who went to the location -- told her they couldn't figure out who owned what phone. There was no seizure, no arrest.
Our victim says she also has repeatedly asked DC's Metropolitan Police Department to get a copy of the security video from the gas station where the robbery happened.
There are six cameras there, and the station's manager has confirmed to us that police have not asked for security video from that July 16th incident.
The purse snatching victim is dismayed: "If they investigated properly, the outcome could have been completely different from what it is now."
We brought the victim's concerns to the city's Metropolitan Police Department. Spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump responded with the following statement: "We swiftly followed up on the information provided by the complainant. However that information failed to net a suspect. Sixth District detectives are continuing to investigate this case, at this time."
