Robbers mess with the wrong grandma
Seward woman tracks thieves who boldly snatched her purse.
By MEGAN HOLLAND
Anchorage Daily News
Published: December 21, 2005


A 55-year-old grandmother from Seward who had her purse snatched in the parking lot of the Dimond Boulevard Costco on Monday afternoon has taken it upon herself to "catch the twirps," she said.

Rosie Szymanski, who came to Anchorage to celebrate Christmas with her 10-year-old grandson and other family members, said Tuesday that she has tracked the thieves to several places where they used her credit cards before she was able to cancel them. And she has obtained a videotape of what she believes are the young men using one of her cards at a McDonald's.

Anchorage police are cautioning her to use care in her investigation.

Szymanski said she was unloading Christmas presents into her Chevy Astro van when a young man shoved her and pinched her kidney-bean-shaped handbag from the shopping cart, she said.

"They are lucky I didn't have my .45 automatic. I would have blasted them," said Szymanski.

Now, Szymanski is piping mad and "in hot pursuit," she said. She has extended her trip and turned it into a hunt for the thieves, work that she says the police aren't doing fast enough.

After she was robbed, Szymanski ran after the thief until she saw him jump into a maroon Jeep that had been waiting with the engine revving. The vehicle sped off, she said.

"Maybe I'm a little older, a little fluffier, and he thought I wasn't going to chase him," she said. "But I did."

The thieves got away with Szymanski's wallet, several hundred dollars in cash, and a lucky coin she had from her grandmother that she always carries with her, she said.

On Tuesday, Syzmanski spent the day driving around Anchorage to the sites where her credit cards had been used, scribbling notes on a mini yellow legal pad, and taking down phone numbers.

"I've been around the block a few times," she said. "These boys need to know there are consequences."

She hit all the spots the thieves had hit: gas stations, McDonald's and a liquor store.

From the McDonald's on Huffman Road, where she found the thieves had spent $30.40, Szymanski found a surveillance tape of the inside and outside of the restaurant that showed what she believes are her perpetrators. "I'm positive it's them," she said.

Both men are described as white and in their early 20s, police said.

Police spokeswoman Anita Shell said she applauded Szymanski but cautioned her to be careful and not confront the thieves. "If you're not hindering your case and you can do any kind of follow-up to assist the detectives, then more power to you," she said.

"There's a lot of victims out there, we try to prioritize and get to them as quickly as we can," Shell said.

Shell said Anchorage police get more than 300 calls a day that require patrol officers to respond and write reports when only 20 to 25 patrol officers are on duty at any one time.

Szymanski said Tuesday night she's unsure exactly how far she'll go with her investigation. But she wants the young men brought to justice.

"I want to smack those boys back," Szymanski said. "I don't want to see this happen to anyone else."

Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at [email protected].


www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7303406p-7215178c.html

Go Get'em Granny!!!!!!!!!

JH94

Quoted: From the McDonald's on Huffman Road, where she found the thieves had spent $30.40, Szymanski found a surveillance tape of the inside and outside of the restaurant that showed what she believes are her perpetrators. "I'm positive it's them," she said. Both men are described as white and in their early 20s, police said.

They should deputize her like Shaq!

Those idiots might want to turn themselves in before Grandma gets ahold of them. For their own safety.

Never mess with a pissed off Grandma.

Quoted: Those idiots might want to turn themselves in before Grandma gets ahold of them. For their own safety. Never mess with a pissed off Grandma especially one who carries a .45.

Fixed it for you.

Well there goes her element of surprise. Now the perps know a .45 packin ganny is coming for them.

They prolly hightailed it out of town already.

O yes, ITS GRAMBO, granny rambo, packin a .45, and maybe an M60
leads to which leads to