Robbers mess with the wrong grandma.

[Highwayman]

Too good of a story not to share. You go grandma!

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

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story...-7215178c.html

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 mrholland@adn.com.

[Lone Gunman]

That is one tough Granny. The world could use a few more just like her.

[K C Muffin]

yep - we could all take a lesson from her. The police spokesman was right, though - she does need to use caution. Up here, the same kind of yank-and-run happened to an older (though not elderly) woman in the Target parking lot - in broad daylight. She gave chase but quickly ran out of breath. A young man saw what happened and also chased - he caught the car door, but when he didn't let go, they scraped that side of the car against a building. He died. It was an awful tragedy - he had 1 little one and 1 on the way. Now, his widowed wife and the crime victim have become like family and the crime victim has started college funds for the children. I'm proud to say our community surrounded these people with love and support.

[TexKan]

I gotta say - IF I had my purse taken - I don't think I would get THAT worked up. I don't think I'd go lookin. Now IF I was packin and got robbed I might shoot at em.......but probably couldn't get to my gun quick enough....so truth is I'd probably just lose the purse........She's got spunk but ya gotta pick your battles wisely......I think I wouldn't be shootin UNLESS I felt my life were in jepardy.
Nice story KC - sad but nice. It's just THAT easy to die over something not worth THAT much.............