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In Hot Pursuit
Elaine Stoeppelwerth walked out the door of Petty's Fine Foods in Tulsa, Oklahoma, clutching a bag of pastries. She was not a fearful person. But as she headed toward her parked car, the graying grandmother of three couldn't help noticing two wiry young men trailing behind her on the sidewalk. Are they following me? she wondered. It was a sunlit May afternoon in Utica Square, an upscale shopping complex -- hardly the time or place for street crime. Stoeppelwerth shook off her fear. There are dozens of people around here. I'm not in any danger.But as she shifted her bag and opened the door to her Toyota, one of the men rushed up to the car. He blocked her in on one side, while the other pushed her and then wordlessly ripped the white leather bag from her shoulder. Both men took off running.
Stoeppelwerth had bought the $500 purse with her employee's discount at Miss Jackson's, the boutique where she worked. Inside the bag were her credit cards and $11. But that's not what made her frantic. The robbers had her house keys and driver's license -- with her address. Stoeppelwerth's six-year-old granddaughter was at home with the nanny.
Irate, she screamed, "They stole my purse!"
About 15 feet away, Erin Donovan had just emerged from the post office. An estate planning attorney, Donovan often worked with elderly clients who also looked to her for emotional support. Donovan empathized with their loneliness, listened to their concerns, even took them to their doctors. It irked her that the elderly often got little respect.
Now she heard the terror in Stoeppelwerth's voice and saw the two men streaking across the lot. They're going to be gone if someone doesn't do something, she realized.
The other shoppers seemed unaware. So Donovan made a quick call. She'd make enough noise to get everyone's attention. Hopefully somebody would stop the thieves.
At 50, Erin Donovan was by no means an athlete. Nor was she dressed for a chase. A stylish woman who rarely went out without earrings and salon-perfect hair, she was dressed for court in a tangerine-colored suit and three-inch heels.
Still, she had to keep the men in sight until help arrived. Clutching her purse and wallet in one hand and her stamps in the other, she sprinted after them. "Those two guys stole a woman's purse!" she screamed.
Up ahead, Nona Manning, 59, a receptionist taking a break from her job, heard the screams and saw the runners flash past. Manning felt a surge of rage. They're not going to get away with that! she thought, and joined the pursuit. Nearby, 19-year-old Virginia Wood, a waitress at the Olive Garden restaurant, heard the commotion. She started running too. A fourth woman followed in her car, honking loudly.
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