More 'Bump & Run' Crimes Occurring In Metro Area
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - Jefferson County sheriff's deputies are calling it a "bump and run" crime. They're looking for a suspect who rear-ended a woman's car and then stole her money.
The woman says she was followed outside a Target store near Southwest Plaza Mall. Her car got rear-ended in a nearby neighborhood. The victim, who asked not to be identified, said nothing seemed unusual when she met the thief.
The woman said she saw the man who hit her car standing outside of a black Acura in the Target parking lot before the crash.
"He said, 'Hey, how are you doing?' I said, 'Fine,' and just kept walking," she said.
She stopped for gas and started driving home and made a stop at the intersection of Maplewood Drive and Park Hill when she felt a car rear-end her.
"So I stopped and I got out," she said.
She realized the man who hit her was the same man from Target.
"I was so scared. I knew immediately that something was happening."
The man got out of his car and walked toward her.
"He came over to me really fast and was grabbing over me and I was trying to push him away. He grabbed my purse out of my passenger seat and just got in his car and left."
The victim described the man as an older black man, about 6 feet tall and 230 pounds. He was bald, or nearly bald, and wearing a dark-colored leather jacket.
"Someone who does this is pretty brazen and we want to get him," an officer said.
The "bump and run" crimes have been happening more frequently in the metro area. Women are usually the targets because they carry purses. Officers say the best thing to do is to use a cell phone immediately after the crime happens.
"Call the police and say I've just been involved in an accident," the officer said.
Police say another way to deter thieves is to put purses and other valuables on the floor instead of the front seat.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
