A woman was dragged by a getaway car in a Costco parking lot after she chased down a suspect who snatched her purse, police said.
The 49-year-old woman, identified as Maria Beatriz Misk, suffered severe abrasions to her face, shoulder, hands and knees, a report said.
"It was horrible, horrible, horrible," said her sister, Maria Penna. "The most horrible thing I have ever seen."
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Misk, a tourist visiting from Brazil, was opening the rear latch door of her car outside the Costco Wholesale on Biscayne Boulevard when a suspect approached her from behind and took her purse by force, police said.
The suspect then ran into the passenger's seat of a off-white four-door sedan driven by a woman and fled, the report said. Misk chased after the suspect on foot and stuck her hand through the open passenger window to try and retrieve her purse, police said.
The suspect, though, raised the window, trapping the victim's hand as the car sped away. Misk was dragged for 30 feet on the right side of her body until she was eventually dropped, police said.
Regular shoppers at Costco said they have noticed increased security since the incident, but that stopping crime may take more than one person on a gold cart.
"If you are not being aware of what's going on around you and you let your guard down, then you are immediately a victim, so you should never be a victim and be aware of what's going on around you," said a woman who identified herself as Ms. K. "Not saying she deserved it for sure, but people like that look for people like that who aren't paying attention."
Thomas Carney of North Miami Beach Police said it's important not to resist.
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"There's nothing in your purse or on your person that's worth your life," he said. "Just give it up if someone comes up and wants it and don't try and recover it or stop it or anything like that."
Police are searching for the suspects and the getaway vehicle.
