Tulsa Purse Theft Caught On Tape

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A Tulsa woman got a hard-earned lesson recently when someone stole her purse out of her car.

The theft occurred during the day in a busy store parking lot at 31^st Street and Garnett Road. Joy Russell and her two children briefly left their to return movies to a movie vending machine and grab a couple more.

Because she was only a few feet from her car, she left her doors unlocked and her purse inside.

"I said, ‘Who would've thought at four in the afternoon with me standing right there, that would happen?' I've definitely learned my lesson," Russell said.

The two thieves had been hanging out in the parking lot, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim. The girl went to be the lookout to watch Joy and her kids, while the young man creeps up to the car's passenger side, opens the door and grabs her purse from the console.

"Very infuriating to think someone has access to your things," Russell said. "Even if my doors were unlocked, they shouldn't think it's OK to take something that's not theirs."

Russell has spent countless hours canceling credit cards, checking her bank account and replacing stolen items, including her social security card and the cards of her 3- and 7-year-old children.

"It's very weird," Russell said. "Even though it didn't happen at home, still they have our address and all of our personal information, so it's made us leery at home, also."

Russell's advice is always lock your doors, no matter how close by you are and only carry essentials in your purse or wallet, never your social security cards and be cautious because crime can happen to anyone, at any time of day.