Purse snatcher at large in Perth

Mar 23 2010 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

POLICE were yesterday hunting a female thief who snatched purses from four elderly Perth shoppers during a 90-minute spree.

None of the female victims, who were all targeted while browsing in busy Fair City charity shops on Saturday, realised their purses had been nabbed from handbags until after leaving the scene and going to pay for items in another shop.

A police spokesman told the PA yesterday that the prime suspect was a 5ft 3” female in her 50s with a tanned complexion.

Although the crook – who struck between 11.30am and 1pm – only got away with small amounts of cash, the purses also contained credit cards, personal papers and items of a sentimental nature.

“It’s your classic distraction type crime, possibly involving more than one person, where an offender will bump into a victim in a busy, cramped shop and then get their hand into the handbag without raising suspicion,” the Tayside Police spokesman said yesterday.

“We’ve had spates of this type of crime every few months, which would suggest it’s someone who doesn’t live locally.”

He said that the usual targets were elderly women, with the robberies taking place in busy shops with no security staff or CCTV cameras.

Handbags

“The last time it happened, for example, was in a card shop,” he said. So the message to shoppers is – watch your backs and your bags.”