Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/305631
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office is inves- tigating a robbery during which a woman's purse was stolen in the parking lot of the Publix located at 3690 Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota, the office has reported. Around 3:40 p.m. on April 28, a 73-year-old woman was walking through the parking lot when a suspect rode by on a bicycle and snatched her purse off her shoulder, a news release says. The suspect fled toward Bee Ridge Road, dropped his bike near Porter Oncology and continued northeast on foot, it adds. The suspect was not located, but evidence — including the gray 26-inch Ross mountain bike he was riding and the victim's purse — have been recovered, the release points out. The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s who, at the time, was wearing a tan hat, brown shirt and long pants, the release says. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 366-TIPS (8477) or go online at sarasotacrimestoppers.com. To help guard against purse snatching, women should keep these tips in mind, the release adds: • Carry the smallest purse possible and keep it close to the body at all times. • Take only the cash, card or identification you will need, not everything you have. • Expensive bags can be bigger targets, so choose carefully, based on each trip. • As a safeguard, be sure to keep a current list of credit cards, their numbers and the issuers' toll-free phone numbers at home or in your glove compartment. If you ever need to report the cards stolen, it helps to have this information written down instead of trying to remember all of it. % SHERIFF'S OFFICE SEEKING ROBBERY SUSPECT; SAFETY TIPS OFFERED Simply put, Crime Stoppers relies upon the cooperation between the police the media and the community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals. Call: (941) 366-TIPS (8477) Click: SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com Text: Text "TIP109" plus your message to CRIMES (274637) All submitted tips are secure and anonymous Sarasota News Leader May 2, 2014 Page 86