Where is Detective Mick Belker when you need him? Credit: Getty Images/NBC |
And, watch out for each other out there.
By MAIRE O'NEILL
A Los Alamos woman in her 80s was followed home from Smith’s Marketplace Saturday afternoon, May 13, by two women and beaten and robbed outside her garage. She has asked to remain anonymous.
In an interview with the Los Alamos Daily Post, the victim said that while she was getting ready to put her purchases into the trunk of her car in the Smith’s parking lot, a young woman asked if she could help her. The victim said she declined the help but the young woman insisted.
After the young woman left, the victim said got into her car, stowed her cane and placed her purse on the passenger’s seat. Soon after, she said the young woman tapped on the passenger side window and asked if she could have 50 cents. The victim opened her purse in full view of the young woman, took out her billfold and gave the young woman 50 cents from the coin pocket.
The victim drove home and parked in her driveway. As she began to unload her purchases, a different woman appeared beside her and asked for help in finding Taos Street. The victim said she tried to explain how to get to Taos Street and the woman left. Shortly thereafter the victim said she saw a reflection in her glasses of a woman lunging toward her. When she turned around, she said the woman slammed her head against the lid of the trunk. The victim said she screamed and kicked her attacker repeatedly in the crotch area.
“Then she hauled off and slugged me in the face with her fist,” the victim said. “This weakened me and allowed her to get my large heavy purse off my arm. Then she ran off down my driveway.”
The victim said she slid to the ground and was unable to get up, so she screamed for about 20 minutes until a teenage girl who was walking a dog in the area heard her and ran to render assistance. The teen helped the victim up and took her inside her home. The teen had found the victim’s billfold on the sidewalk near the victim’s home. None of her bank cards were missing, but some $300 in cash was missing along with her social security card. Police and medical personnel arrived at her home, attended to her and began an investigation.
The next morning, a woman walking on Venado Street found the victim’s purse and some items from the purse and returned them to her. The victim said she has extensive bruising on her face and that the inside of her mouth is cut.
“There are lots of nice people in this town,” she said. “Two people who didn’t know me helped me. The police officer who investigated the situation came back to check on me later with his wife and family and they had baked cookies for me.”
Los Alamos Police Det. Sgt. James Rodriguez said today that the case is still under investigation. He said he believes there were two suspects who followed the victim to her home, because the woman who struck her, got into the passenger side of the vehicle on the street and that she called out to someone, “I got it, I got it,” as she moved away from the victim. Rodriguez said he is working with the Smith’s loss prevention department and viewing video of people of interest.
Rodriguez recommends that senior make friends with neighbors who can watch out for them as they come and go. He said seniors allow Smith’s employees to accompany them to their vehicles and assist them with loading their purchases. He said everyone should look around before exiting their vehicle and be aware of their surroundings.
Anyone with any information on this incident should call the Los Alamos Police Department at 505.662.8222.
2 comments:
Smith's is becoming a lot like the Walmart/Lowe's complex in Espanola. Don't go there after dark or late in the day on weekends. Smith's is so close to the escape route from LA that it is perceived a a good place for criminal activity.
I have been approached in Smith's parking lot by panhandlers, most likely from the valley, asking for money late in the day on a Saturday. IMO there should be a security patrol in the parking lot after dark and on weekend afternoons.
Too bad retired LAPD Det. DeWayne Williams is not on the force any more. He's the closest I think we came to a Mick Belker. Woulda been a good stakeout for him.
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