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[April 18, 2012]

Detectives track down person of interest in West Boca scooter purse snatching

WEST BOCA, Apr 19, 2012 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Detectives have tracked down a person of interest in the mugging of two elderly sisters last week at a bus stop outside a Publix store, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.

They've been searching since April 12 for the purse-snatcher on a scooter who robbed and knocked over an 84-year-old woman and her wheelchair-using 96-year-old sister as they waited for the bus back home to Century Village.

The youth tailed the unsuspecting women on his scooter as they shopped at the Publix at 9846 Glades Road, according to new details released this week.

"That's messed up," said 17-year-old Rose Cohen, who saw what happened. "How low can you go to go after older people?" Cohen was among those at the Palm Tran bus stop outside Publix. People noticed the teen wheel back and forth on the scooter minutes before the robbery, she said. He dug for cigarette butts in an ashtray and texted furiously on his phone.

When the No. 91 bus arrived around 4:30 p.m., Cohen stepped up into the bus, just ahead of the sisters, and heard their screams behind her. She turned around to see the teen yanking a large brown purse attached to the wheelchair, shoving both sisters to the ground.

"They were screaming, everyone was flipping out," said Cohen, who said she rushed to help the sisters up.

Witnesses ran after the scooter, the Sheriff's Office said, and the bus driver called 911.

The robber got away with $1,200 in cash, a $5,000 Patek Philippe watch and a $1,000 gold bracelet, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Two Medicare cards, two Social Security cards and a credit card were gone, too.

The assailant escaped with an accomplice in a gold-colored, 4-door sedan, the Sheriff's Office said.

Publix surveillance photos released to news media Monday triggered a flood of tips that led detectives to their person of interest, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said Wednesday.

"It looks promising," said Barbera, adding that the robber may face stiffer charges for targeting an elderly person. "Crime knows no time, no age, no location." Photos show him standing close behind the pair as they purchased money orders for $500 and $120 inside the supermarket, then following them to the bus stop.

Both victims were taken to West Boca Medical Center, the Sheriff's Office said. Martha Muraskin, 96, suffered two broken ribs and a head injury. Hermena Perlmutter, 84, had high blood pressure. As of Wednesday, both sisters had been released, a hospital spokesman said.

South Florida's large number of elderly residents are often seen as easy prey to robbers, said Sandy Reynolds, of the Palm Beach County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center. They are known for carrying large amounts of cash, they move slowly and are less likely to chase their attackers, she said.

"What's really frightening is that the elderly can't protect themselves," Reynolds said. It's common for robbers to look for them in supermarkets or other places they shop, she said.

In a similar case last month, Boynton Beach police arrested a man accused of pushing down an 87-year-old woman at a Publix on Congress Avenue and taking her purse at knifepoint. Police said his black pickup truck matched the description of a vehicle used in other armed robberies targeting older adults.

On March 11, an 89-year-old man and his wife were robbed at gunpoint in a Greenacres shopping plaza. The robber yanked off the woman's ring and then drove off with he couple's late-model Lincoln sedan.

Investigators ask anyone who can identify the suspect in Thursday's robbery to contact Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County, 800-458-8477.

apcampbell@SunSentinel.com, 561-243-6609 or Twitter @AlexiaCampbell.

___ (c)2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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