Exclusive: Victim speaks out after South Miami purse snatchers strike again

FORT LAUDERDALE – A Fort Lauderdale woman is speaking out after she says purse snatchers from South Miami have victimized her as well.

The crimes were captured on surveillance tape at the restaurants in both cities.

The victim in the Fort Lauderdale case reached out exclusively to CBS News Miami’s Peter D’Oench and shared surveillance tape from the Cafe Europa restaurant on Las Olas Boulevard where she says her wallet was stolen from her purse just after 5 p.m. on December 22nd while she was having an early dinner with her husband and two other couples.

The victim named Karen, who did not want to show all of her face, said she saw our story Wednesday about the two men who stole an $8,000 purse from an elderly woman who was dining at the Casacuba restaurant on December 23rd. And she was stunned when she realized the same people had victimized her.

“I said oh my God, it’s them,” said Karen. “I had a feeling they were not amateurs. I mean they seemed to know what they were doing. It even looked like one of them was wearing the same outfit. I said I have got to call police.”

She filed a report with Fort Lauderdale police and they have been in touch with South Miami Police. South Miami Sgt. Fernando Bosch said the suspect featured in one of the photos from the Fort Lauderdale case was the same person who robbed the victim at CasaCuba.

Karen said, “I put my purse on the side of the chair. The restaurant was crowded. I noticed people getting closer to me. I thought a woman was sitting there. When I took my purse back and put in on my lap I noticed the wallet was gone. I lost 3 credit cards. It was amazing how quickly they charged in $500 increments. They charged thousands of dollars on each credit card.”

Karen said cash, gift cards and documents were stolen from her wallet as well.

She said, “I felt very deflated. I have been here 16 years and this is not the town we knew when we first moved here. It just really felt awful when this happened. This is a bad feeling to have that happen. I know I can get things back but I just felt this was so invasive. This was Christmastime and all this comes with a little PTSD. This was scary and you have to be a lot more careful.”

Karen hopes the suspects can be captured.

She said, “It would mean that there would be fewer people out there doing this and while I know this happens, they don’t deserve to be running around doing this to people.”

She also had another observation.

“We saw most women in the restaurant had purses on the side of their chairs or behind them. I told everybody in the restaurant what happened. My advice with purses is to keep them on your lap or put them on hooks. Do not put them on your side or behind you.”

CBS News Miami reached out to managers at Cafe Europa but they did not want to comment right now.

Fort Lauderdale Police say there is an ongoing investigation.

Sgt. Fernando Bosch of South Miami Police said the thieves were professionals and he believes they may have done this before.

If you can help find the suspects, call South Miami Police, Fort Lauderdale Police, Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS (8477).