VIDEO: Woman dragged by car after having purse snatched

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    Oakland, California (KPIX) — A woman in Oakland was dragged by a car down a street after her purse was snatched in an incident captured on surveillance video.

The incident Wednesday was the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on Asians in both Oakland and San Francisco.

The victim’s husband told KPIX his wife had her purse crossed around her neck and shoulder and got dragged 150 feet by the suspect car. He said his wife was very shaken up after the incident, having driven in from out of town to the Oakland Beauty Supply on the 900 block of International Blvd.

“She’s very scared and shaken up,” said the victim’s husband, who did not want to be identified.

A woman is dragged by a car as her purse is being snatched on the 900 block of International Blvd. in Oakland’s Chinatown, Feb. 24, 2021. (Credit: Oakland Beauty Supply)

Employees at the store told KPIX that the victim just finished purchasing her cosmetic supplies when she walked to a nearby grocery store. That is where the suspects grabbed her purse and dragged the victim.

“A lot of people were standing, they were saying, ‘What the heck happened?’” said a store employee.

“I heard some loud noise and I got out of the car and I saw her on the street,” the husband said.

The store’s surveillance camera did not capture the purse snatching but did record the woman getting dragged down the street as she held onto her purse while the getaway car drove past the store.

A wave of attacks and robberies in Oakland’s Chinatown has prompted Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to launch a special unit to investigate the attacks. The Oakland Police Department has deployed the department’s mobile community command unit to Chinatown and increased police street patrols.

“We heard on the news that they are targeting Asian people, but we didn’t think about it when we were there,” the victim’s husband said.

This week, California lawmakers allocated $1.4 million in state funds to help Asian Americans report hate incidents following a series of violent attacks in the Bay Area and across the state.

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