81-year-old woman carjacked while handing out meals to homeless

An 81-year-old woman was knocked to the ground after someone forcefully stole her keys as she was giving out food to the homeless. 

According to the Redlands Police Department, the carjacking happened in the parking lot of the Stater Bros. Market off of 11 East Colton Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. 

The victim, Nina Steinman, showed off the Bible she used when she was a prison minister and counselor. Now retired, she spends her free time feeding the homeless out of her SUV. 

"I always just drive and say, 'Are you hungry? I have something,' and they know me by now and I always say, 'What's my name?' And they say, 'Sister, Nina.'"

On Monday, Steinman had been handing out meals around Redlands, when she ended up in the Stater Bros. As finished up feeding three unhoused men, another man approached her, grabbed her keys and jumped in the driver's seat of her SUV. 

"I yelled. I said, 'Stop!' My plan was to open the door and to reach him and grab him by the shirt and pull him out, but I couldn't do that and I ended up on the ground," she said. 

Fortunately, Steinman was not seriously injured. 

Redlands police described the suspect as a Hispanic man in his 30s, with a medium build and complexion. He has short black hair, an Aztec tattoo on his hand and was last seen in dark jeans and a black T-shirt. 

"The homeless men came over and picked me up, and they said, 'Sister Nina, you don't have to bring us food anymore. We don't want to see you get hurt," said Steinman, adding that she's not going to let this incident stop her from helping the less fortunate and that she had a word for the man who stole her car. 

"Shame on you," she said. "You need to know that you can't go around taking other people's things even though you need it. You can't do things like that and you have to be willing to take the consequences." 

The victim's vehicle was a 2015 KIA Sportage and was last seen driving west on the 10 freeway from Orange Street.