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Local Man Accused Of Stealing Woman's Purse In Church

WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- Steven Hamilton, an admitted cocaine addict, hangs his head in shame as he gets an earful from his family.

"And I'm sorely ashamed of him," his mother said. "I can't believe that he did this. And I feel so sorry for that woman."

He is accused of grabbing a woman's purse as she was praying at the Immaculate Conception Church in Washington.

Hamilton also allegedly beat the woman in the head with a cane. He blames his 20-year drug addiction.

"I'm real sorry to the victim," he told KDKA-TV.

He gets no sympathy from his sister and mother.

"I don't know why he would hit her over the head once she retrieved her purse," Hamilton's mother said. "Why didn't he just go on? I don't know why he hit her."

"My dad is dead today, my dad is turning over in his grave to see what this child has done," Hamilton's sister added.

Hamilton doesn't deny assaulting and robbing a woman who was praying in church, but he can't explain why he did it.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what else to say."

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