Metro Detroit Crime · @CrimeInTheD
20th Jul 2012 from Twitlonger
DEARBORN HEIGHTS: Woman assaulted/robbed for her $8,000 Rolex watch about 11:35 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot at Joe Randazzo’s Fruit & Vegetable Market and Nursery, 24135 Joy Road.
The woman, a 57-year-old Dearborn resident, said she was getting into her car to leave when a late-1990s model Ford Taurus bumped into her left front tire with its left front fender. Out of the car came a black man about 25 to 30 years old. She said she asked him to stop approaching her until she got into her car, but instead he grabbed her arm. The woman started screaming and trying to to wrestle away from her assailant, but she was thrown to the ground. She said she was struck several times, but she managed to scratch the man’s face using her car keys. Other people in the parking lot quickly took notice of the unfolding robbery and rushed to her aid, with one man punching the suspect repeatedly before he was forced to retreat to the Taurus. The car was last seen heading east on Joy Road. Sometime during the altercation, the man was able to remove the woman’s watch from her wrist.
Police said the victim had abrasions and cuts on her arms and legs, but she declined medical treatment. Randazzo’s has been the site of several purse-snatchings in the past year, according to police records.