Just after 10 last night as a 21 year-old woman was walking to her car, a masked man jumped out of the bushes and mugged her near the intersection of 24th NW & NW 59th, a witness and a family member tell us. “We never thought it would happen to us,” the victim’s sister said.
The woman works at one of the restaurants along 24th Ave NW and was heading home after closing up. Her sister tells us that the victim noticed a man walking in front of her, but she didn’t think anything of it. When she looked up again, he was gone. Moments later a masked man wearing all black jumped out of the bushes and grabbed her purse. “Everyone handles these situations differently,” the sister tells us, explaining that she decided to fight back. The man, who is described by witnesses as 5’7″ – 5’8″ tall with a thicker build, dragged the woman about 40 feet before falling down. She took hold of her purse once again, but her sister said he grabbed it back and ran off. Several neighbors ran the direction he ran, but didn’t find him. The victim was not injured but is still shaken up and in shock this morning.
“Women are such a target,” the sister says, “Especially with the big style bags right now.” She has this advice for women, “If you’re going to walk to your car, have your friend, boyfriend, husband, someone walk with you.” (Thank you to a neighbor who emailed us and to the sister for contacting us.)