THE BRONX — A purse-snatcher robbed an 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair in Tremont Sunday, five days after a man robbed a great-great-grandmother, police said.
The woman was sitting at the corner of East 179th Street and Marion Avenue about 2:16 p.m. when a woman, who can be seen in video released Monday, swiped her purse and ran, NYPD officials said.
The purse held the woman's cash and a bank card, police said.
The thief is about 5 feet 6 inches, 240 pounds and was last seen wearing an orange shirt, police said.
She hadn't been arrested as of Monday morning, police said.
The Sunday robbery comes on the heels of a similar incident in East Harlem. A thief reached into the bra of Maria Vasquez, 94, as she sat in her wheelchair Wednesday and stole $600 she had planned to use to pay her rent, police said.
"He only escaped because I have an injured hand," Maria Vasquez, who uses a wheelchair after suffering three strokes, said Friday. "If I was healthy, I would've grabbed him right there and punched him."
Broyoan Lopez was arrested Friday and charged with robbing Vasquez, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, police said.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
