Victoria, BC – Officers are looking for your help in identifying a suspect in two “drive-by” purse snatchings which occurred last night.
Investigators spoke to the first victim who told officers that she had been knocked to the ground by a passing vehicle. The victim reported that her purse appeared to have been caught on the vehicle during the collision. This occurred as she was leaving a grocery store in a shopping plaza in the 2600-block of Quadra Street on August 31st at 8:30 p.m. The driver did not stop and the victim was not injured. Her purse was not taken.
While officers were taking the first victim’s report, additional officers were called to the same shopping plaza, where they spoke with a second victim who reported that, just after 9 p.m., a man in a sedan had approached her to ask for directions. When she approached the car, the man grabbed her purse from her shoulder and drove away. The woman was shaken but unhurt.
Due to the similarities between the two crimes, these investigations have been linked, pointing to the first incident as a failed drive-by purse theft.
Witnesses describe the suspect as a Caucasian man of approximately 25 years of age with a chubby face and facial hair. He appears to have worn a lime green shirt during the incident. The vehicle is described as a dark-coloured 2000s-vintage sedan with light grey hub caps.
If you have any information about these incidents but have not yet spoken to officers, you are asked to call (250) 995-7654. To report what you know anonymously, please call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.