Police looking for more victims of violent purse snatching suspect
"To have it happen here is kind of freaky," said Bertha Morales who lives near Rite Aid in West Central Fresno. She is stunned by the boldness of the attack.
FRESNO, Calif (KFSN) -- Police say a woman caught on surveillance cameras attacking two other women is after prescription drugs. Now she's locked up and facing robbery and elder abuse charges.
Police arrested Lela Myles for the violent attacks. She was arrested after police got ahold of surveillance video. Investigators say witnesses went out of their way to make sure detectives could track her.
In one clip a 48-year-old woman is being dragged in front of a store as the suspect struggles to get her purse. That suspect is being held in the Fresno County Jail. Fresno police say Myles is facing three felony charges for what she's seen doing on video.
"To have it happen here is kind of freaky," said Bertha Morales who lives near Rite Aid in West Central Fresno. She is stunned by the boldness of the attack.
Police say the first incident happened on December 17th at a West Central Fresno Walgreens.
"The victim held on to her purse and Myles dragged her to the ground violently," said Lt. Joe Gomez. "Then she gave up trying to rob her, jumped into her black Honda and fled off."
As the attack moves past the front door several customers take notice and follow the suspect. They took pictures which included Myles' license plate and gave them to investigators.
"That helped us find her and identify her," Gomez said. "Then we did some photo line ups, a lot of great investigative work by the northwest detectives."
Those detectives began tracking Myles after this attack on Tuesday. Most of the crime happened out of the camera's view. But police say a 71-year-old woman's purse was taken.
"Of course the victim had just about everything in her purse, credit cards, pain medication, a lot of other things... her wallet, money," Gomez said.
Myles showed detectives no remorse when she was arrested, according to Gomez. They say she's after prescription drugs, picking easy targets and not caring for their safety.
Investigators are still hard at work on this case, trying to get warrants to search Morales' home for stolen property. When she was arrested they say they found that 71-year-old woman's belongings with Myles.
