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Detroit Man Charged With Robbing Elderly Woman After Helping Her

det purse snatcher
Detroit police say this man first offered to help an elderly woman and then snatched her purse. (Police handout photo)

DETROIT (WWJ) - A 21-year-old man who offered to help an elderly woman and then robbed her has been charged in the case.

Javon Maurice Watson was charged Friday with unarmed robbery in connection with a purse snatching that occurred on Easter Sunday on Detroit's northwest side.

According to police, the 83-year-old victim was having trouble with her vehicle, so she pulled into a gas station in the 20000 block of Mound Road, near Outer Drive. The woman told police she exited the gas station and was approached by Watson, who asked if she needed help putting anti-freeze in her car.

When Watson was done pouring the fluid in the vehicle, the woman offered him some money -- but that apparently wasn't good enough. The woman told police when she turned away, Watson grabbed the woman's purse, which was on her left shoulder, and fled the scene in a white vehicle.

Watson was arrested days after the incident. It wasn't immediately clear when he will be arraigned.

 

 

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