Two separate purse snatchings result in one dead teen and one injured woman in an IKEA parking lot

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Two separate purse snatchings are grabbing headlines in Houston.

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In Memorial City, four teenagers were suspected of grabbing a 42-year-old woman’s purse outside of a Target.

Off-duty deputies followed them, though, careful not to classify the pursuit as a ‘chase,’ resulting in the suspects’ car losing control and crashing into a tree.

A 16-year-old boy was killed, and a 17-year-old suffered a broken rib in the incident. Two other 16-year-olds were arrested.

Meanwhile, at IKEA on Sunday, a mother of three was walking to her car at around 6:00 p.m. when her purse was reportedly snatched.

The suspect held on to her bag, but she fought back, even as the purse ripped.

Ultimately, she was pistol-whipped, forced to surrender her phone, but she still refused to give up her purse.

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“They’re taking your identity when they take a woman’s purse,” Stephanie Anguiano said in an interview.

The suspect reportedly fled the scene with three other suspects in a grey Nissan Altima, and IKEA issued the following statement on the situation:

“The safety of IKEA customers and co-workers is always our highest priority. With regard to the reported incident in our IKEA Houston store, local law enforcement was called immediately, and they are currently investigating this matter. AS IKEA is cooperating with the police, any questions regarding the details of this incident should be forwarded to the Houston Police department. Please note that since this a current police investigation, we cannot comment any further. Thank you for your cooperation.”

If you would like to report information on these crimes contact your local authorities or Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

This is a developing story.

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