Carjacking purse snatcher goes on parking lot rampage, police say; incident caught on video

A woman was arrested Friday afternoon in Agoura Hills after trying to snatch another woman’s purse, but instead stealing her car and crashing it into several other cars and a cinder-block wall before being detained by bystanders, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said the wild incident — which was captured on video and quickly went viral — began around noon when a woman in her 20s approached a shopper in the Ralphs parking lot on Kanan Road.

The woman tried to steal a purse, but the victim did not immediately hand it over. In the ensuing struggle, the would-be purse-snatcher pulled the victim from her car and threw her to the ground, authorities said. Then she jumped into the victim’s car and — without closing the door — attempted to flee with the vehicle in reverse, slamming into several other cars and a concrete brick wall.

Undaunted, the carjacker drove off again, and then crashed again in the parking lot, authorities said.

Giving up on fleeing in the car, the woman exited the vehicle and tried to run off but was detained by several nearby shoppers, who held her until deputies arrived.

Officials said the woman was taken to a local hospital to be medically cleared in advance of being booked into jail.

The car’s owner sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene.