A woman was assaulted in broad daylight at the corner of Napfle and Bustleton. Police are trying to find her attackers.
Police are trying to identify two suspects who attempted to drag a woman into their car and stole her handbag in broad daylight.
The resident, who didn’t want her name published, was attacked on April 24 while walking home from church in the neighborhood where she lives. It was 9:10 in the morning and she was at the corner of Napfle Street and Bustleton Avenue. She heard a vehicle pull up behind her, but didn’t think anything of it.
“They pulled up behind me, and I heard the passenger tell the driver, ‘I know what I’m doing,’” the resident said.
She turned around to see a man lunging at her, grabbing her handbag in her right hand and pulling her toward the car, a red Toyota.
The man climbed into the passenger seat and attempted to pull the resident in after him, dragging her along the asphalt of the road. Another vehicle pulled up behind them and, seeing what was going on, started beeping.
“The [red Toyota] was slowly driving,” the resident said. She was still on the ground being pulled alongside the vehicle, traveling 200 feet across the road.
The attackers gave up and dropped her, making off with her handbag that contained personal items and information.
“I would always walk around this neighborhood by myself,” the resident said. She doesn’t have a car, so it was her main method of transportation. “I won’t go outside by myself anymore.”
The driver in the vehicle behind her who beeped called the police and has cooperated as a witness.
The resident spent the next 12 days in the hospital with seven broken ribs and an injured collarbone. A stay-at-home mom, the resident didn’t tell her daughter what happened until several days after the attack. Weeks later, most of her arm is still bright red with an angry bruise.
Last week, police released security footage of the driver of the vehicle, a while female with blond hair, attempting to use the victim’s debit card at a gas station. The also identified the car, license plate JTC-3672, which was stolen from the 8th District.
The resident described the man who grabbed her as a short Caucasian male with a thin build and medium brown hair.
After living in Northeast Philadelphia for 12 years, the assault made the resident reevaluate her safety in the community.
“I don’t know what I’ll do now,” she said. “I can’t go out. I haven’t gone out since.”
Anyone with information should contact detectives at 215–686–3153/54.
