Man steals purse from 72-year-old woman outside Orland Park JC Penney

A man stole a 72-year-old woman’s purse Monday morning outside a southwest suburban JC Penney store.

Around 10:55 a.m., the woman left the lower level of the JC Penny in Orland Park and got into her vehicle in the parking lot, according to Orland Park police. A man then approached her vehicle and opened the passenger-side door.

He reached into the car and tried to take a shopping bag from the floor, police said, but the woman grabbed the bag and it ripped opened.

The man then grabbed the woman’s purse from the front passenger seat and, after a brief struggle as she fought to keep her purse, ran off with it, police said. The shopping bag was left behind.

He then got into the passenger side of a newer model, dark blue four-door Nissan Altima, police said. It drove off toward 151st Street.

The suspect is described as a black man in his 20s with short hair or a shaved head, police said.

Anyone with information should contact police at (708) 349-4111.