PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles police are looking for a man and woman they suspect of stealing a purse Sunday morning and fleeing after dragging its 79-year-old owner several feet in the East Third Street Safeway parking lot.
Margerett Platt was treated at Olympic Medical Center and released, hospital spokesperson Bobby Beeman said Monday.
Police said Platt had a cut on her head and complained of pain in her legs and back.
The man and woman are being sought for investigation of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and second-degree theft.
Platt said the purse contained a small amount of cash, credit cards and debit cards.
Surveillance video
The man was seen at 11:05 a.m. Sunday on store surveillance video, grabbing Platt’s purse from her shopping cart in the deli section before running outside and getting into a Chrysler Pacifica minivan, according to a probable cause statement.
Platt grabbed at the man, then walked to the vehicle, opened the passenger front door and grabbed at her purse before the driver accelerated in reverse, knocking her to the ground and dragging her several feet.
“Witness statements all said she was dragged by the vehicle,” Officer Zachery Moore said, describing the struggle for the purse as “a tug of war.”
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsula dailynews.com.