CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Yvonne Cook is still sore from a scary situation outside the SouthPark Mall. Cook suffered cuts and bruises after a fight with a purse snatcher on Thursday.
"I just did not want to let her have it. She just didn't need what wasn't hers," Cook said.
Cook had just opened her car door when she said a middle-aged woman approached her from behind and yelled at her to give up her purse.
Cook punched her in the face and did her best to resist, but she was thrown to the ground.
"If it had been a man, it would have been less of a struggle. I would have surely been more afraid," Cook said. "With her, I didn't feel as afraid. I thought, why aren't you doing something productive? Why are you out here doing this?"
Cook said her attacker got into the passenger seat of a getaway car that was driven by another woman.
Police said a 79-year-old woman had her purse stolen from a parking lot on Randolph Road Friday afternoon, also by two women. Police have not said whether they think the two cases are related.
Cook said officers told her she was likely targeted because she was alone and seemed distracted.
But Cook isn't afraid to go back. "I'll probably be there tomorrow," she said.