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Woman asks 78-year-old churchgoer to pray with her, steals her purse, bites her

SHELBY, N.C. — When a young woman asked a 78-year-old woman headed to a church service at a Shelby church to pray with her, she stole her purse and bit her, a reverend said.

Marjorie Olsen was walking into the 10 a.m. service Sunday at Ascension Lutheran Church when a woman asked to pray with her, Channel 9's partner, the Gaston Gazette said.

When the two clasped hands to pray, the woman grabbed Olsen’s purse, the Rev. Christina Auch said.

When Olsen pulled at the woman’s shirt to stop her from darting off, the woman bit her left hand.

A Shelby police report noted that the woman left the church parking lot in a white Ford Mustang.

Paramedics took Olsen to Carolinas HealthCare System Cleveland to have her bite looked at. She was discharged later that day.

The woman made off with several credit cards, Olsen’s driver’s license, car keys, house keys, a cellphone, $90 in cash and medication, Shelby police said.

"It is upsetting that someone would specifically target a church community," Auch told the Gaston Gazette.

She said there have not been any similar crimes at the church in the two and a half years she has worked there.

Shelby police are still investigating the case and have not made an arrest.

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