One of my friends alerted me to a scary occurrence that she witnessed in the Sam's Club parking lot last Thursday, a purse snatching. Ladies, this is a must read.

My friend, Karla, shared this on her Facebook profile:

This evening as I was leaving Sam's Club I witnessed a crime - in a very close and personal way. The victim was loading groceries into the back of her SUV, and made the mistake of leaving her purse sitting in the buggy as she loaded. As I walked by I noticed a car pull up behind her, stop, and a man jumped out and took her purse. When I saw this, I immediately started screaming & trying to call attention to what was taking place. The victim turned around & tried to grab her purse back from the thief. As they were wrestling for the purse, he jumped back into the car & the driver punched the accelerator, dragging the victim along. The criminals managed to get away & the victim was taken to the ER. Please note that this took place during broad daylight with many witnesses. We were told that this exact scenario has been happening frequently. Ladies - PLEASE be aware of your surroundings and put your purse inside your car BEFORE you start loading your bags or groceries. This lady was obviously traumatized by what happened - but she could have been hurt much worse than she was. It was a frightening and eye opening experience to say the least.

She's on a mission to share this story and help women learn to be more aware of their surroundings. According to a news report from KLTV, this was not a one-time occurrence. Another purse snatching was reported the following day at the Walmart located on Highway 64 in Tyler.

Tyler police advise women to keep their purses in their possession or to lock them inside their car before loading items into their vehicle from a shopping cart.

Karla told me the event was horrifying to witness first hand, and now she wants all women to be more cautious and aware of their surroundings.

Thankfully the two thieves in the vehicle were later apprehended, and more charges are pending further investigation, but this story is an example of what can happen when you are unaware.

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