Two suspected purse snatchers were charged Aug. 18 after allegedly committing a series of robberies, including dragging an elderly woman across the pavement outside of a Bank of America in a robbery in the Hacienda Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles County Aug. 14.
Cameron Deshan Perry was charged, along with Russell Hardy Jr., on two counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree automated teller machine robbery, and one count of attempted second-degree robbery.
Mr. Perry has additionally been charged with two counts of elder and dependent adult abuse for allegedly assailing the 75-year-old woman in the bank parking lot.
According to authorities, the two men have conducted a crime spree starting May 30 and have taken over $100,000 in belongings from various people.
Video—posted on social media by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva—shows the elderly woman being dragged across the parking lot of the bank at Azusa Avenue and Pepper Brook Way by a thief Aug. 14.
“The brutality and heartlessness of the perpetrator in the video is shocking,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement. “I spoke with Sheriff Robert Luna this morning and am confident that he and his department are doing everything they can to bring this person into custody.”
The woman was walking out of the bank when a man ran up and grabbed her purse, which was on her shoulder. She initially held onto the purse, resulting in her being dragged several feet by the assailant until she let go.
“Property can be replaced, but the life of someone is most important to us,” Deputy Miguel Meza with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News. “If you’re going to get your vehicle, your purse, or anything of value stolen, or you’re put in a situation where someone’s trying to take anything from you, let the person have it. We don’t want you to be physically hurt.”
Two men were seen in the video pursuing the assailant, but he got away.
There have been no reports on the woman’s condition, but she was seen in the video getting up after the incident.
