The victim only sustained minor injuries, said the police. (File)
Police in Los Angeles, US, are searching for a pair of robbers who hit a woman with their car as she ran away from them in search of help. According to a video released by the Los Angeles Police Department, the woman is seen frantically running on foot into the middle of a busy street in broad daylight. The police said that the incident occurred last week when the woman left a jewellery store in the Jewellery District and the attackers began following her in a silver Dodge Challenger.
A CCTV captured the moment when the two thieves rammed the woman with the car before jumping out and snatching her watch. In the clip, the woman is seen trying to flag down a white SUV in the street. However, as the SUV swerves around the woman and speeds off, the Dodge accelerates and smashes into her.
Watch the clip below:
As per a police press release, the victim only sustained minor injuries. The police said that the woman was being followed after she left the jewellery store. She was followed to an intersection where a man ran from the Dodge to the victim's vehicle and shattered the driver side window. The woman tried to drive away but was blocked by heavy traffic. That is when she tried to run before the thieves caught up with her.
The men - one of them armed - emerged from the Dodge, while the woman threw her watch to the ground, the cops stated. The press note said that one of the men is 5 feet, 11 inches and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants and a ski mask. The second suspect was wearing a black sweater and light blue jeans.
The shocking crime is part of a startling trend of robberies in the US in which suspects follow their victims to their homes, businesses or secluded areas and then rob them. Now, the cops said that a special task force has been established by the Lost Angeles Police Department (LAPD) that focuses on such crimes or follow-off robberies.