The robbery of an 83-year-old man in Santa Ana has been linked to a distraction technique used by Romani travelers, police said Wednesday.
The victim was approached on the afternoon of June 4 in a Food4Less parking lot in Bristol Warner Marketplace by a woman who offered to help him carry groceries. Instead, she took his two gold chains valued at over $4,500 from his neck, according to Santa Ana police.
“She was just too strong,” the victim told NBC Los Angeles on Friday.
Before she took his chains, the victim said the suspect placed a bracelet in his hand and then another around his neck. As he put his head down for her to clasp the necklace, the woman removed his chains.
As the woman and her accomplice fled the scene in a white Mercedes SUV, surveillance video shows the victim attempting to stop the vehicle and a security guard trying to intervene. The driver did not stop, striking the victim and injuring his leg.
The victim said it was not the first time he’d been robbed, but it was the first time it happened in public.
The incident matches a pattern observed in similar cases involving suspects known as Romani travelers, police said Wednesday. The suspects typically approach victims by offering assistance, then place jewelry on them as a distraction to steal their belongings.
Santa Ana police said the woman is between 20 to 25 years old, seen wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to contact 714-245-8573.