Orange : Thief Runs Over Victim After Taking Purse, Car

An elderly Garden Grove woman had her legs run over twice by a thief who stole her purse and car outside a restaurant in Orange Friday morning.

The victim, a 63-year-old woman, had just finished breakfast at a restaurant in the 4000 block of West Chapman Avenue, and was getting into her car when the male assailant, with shoulder-length blond hair and a mustache, approached her car, Orange Police Officer Dave Hill said.

The woman locked her door, but because she could not hear what the man was saying, rolled down her window a few inches. The man asked her what time it was. When she looked at her watch, he reached though the window and unlocked the door, Hill said.

After swinging the door open the man grabbed the woman by both hands and yanked her out of the car and pulled the purse out of her hands, Hill said. The man then pushed her, and she fell backward to the ground, Hill said.

With the key still in the ignition, the assailant jumped in the car and gunned the car backward, running the front wheels of the vehicle over the woman’s lower legs. He then drove the car forward and ran over her legs a second time, Hill said.

The car was described as a jade-green four-door 1975 Lincoln Town Car, license number 140NAU. It was last seen speeding down North Lewis Street. The assailant was described as about 30 years of age, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds.

The woman, who was taken by paramedics to UCI Medical Center in Orange, suffered a possible broken pelvis and numerous abrasions to her ankles and feet, Hill said.

The woman’s name is not being released pending the notification of relatives.