Posted on 03/12/2006 5:51:04 PM PST by anymouse
TEXAS CITY — It was about 7:30 p.m. March 2 when Pauline Perrin, 66, and daughter Susie, 41, left Palais Royal after shopping for sales. Neither woman paid much mind to two young men standing outside the store.
“They were well dressed, nice looking, just ordinary guys,” Pauline said.
But what happened next got the women’s attention. And it ended with Susie’s wild ride on the hood of a moving car, reassessments of mall security and competing conclusions about whether the La Marque women were brave, reckless or both that night.
‘He Cold-cocked Me’
As Pauline was opening the passenger door to her daughter’s minivan, one of the young men confronted her and demanded her purse, she said.
“No I won’t,” Pauline, who has a soft English accent, recalls telling the man.
The mugger hit Pauline in the arm, snatched her purse and ran to a red getaway car, driven by a third man.
While Pauline was attempting to fend off her mugger, Susie was fighting hers on the other side of the minivan.
Susie managed to toss her purse into her van and out of her mugger’s reach. The man punched her in the face before fleeing to the getaway car, she said.
“He cold-cocked me,” Susie said. “I saw red; I went into a blind rage.”
Persistent Passenger
As the men attempted to drive away with her mother’s purse, Susie went after them. She jumped on the hood of their car, grabbed the windshield wipers, straddled the vehicle with her feet and demanded the purse, she said.
Pauline said she was terrified as she watched the car drive by, her daughter on the hood.
“I was never so scared in all my life,” she said. She called the police as the car, with her daughter hanging on, slowly fish-tailed around the parking lot.
Pauline began screaming and honking the horn of the minivan, she said.
No one came out of the mall to help, she said.
Meanwhile, Susie wasn’t letting go.
The car’s passenger yelled at the driver to throw the woman off the car. The driver screamed at the passenger to toss the purse out the window.
More Surprises
The men argued. Susie kept screaming. The passenger tossed the purse out; Susie let go and the men fled.
The women, still in possession of their purses, went on to the hospital, Pauline with an injured wrist, Susie with injuries to her face from the punch.
But more surprises awaited them, they said. Upon being interviewed by the Texas City police, the women learned Mall of the Mainland did not have surveillance cameras.
Such cameras might have helped police identify their attackers, they say.
But Bill Rachner, general manager of Mall of the Mainland, said security cameras often lead to a false sense of security and are expensive to monitor.
Rare Incident
Such incidents are rare at the mall, he said. When the mall is open, anywhere from two to six security officers patrol the shopping center, he said.
The Perrins say mall security was slow in responding to the scene. A security officer did not approach them until after the incident, when the men were long gone, they said. The security guard was on foot and not in a vehicle, they said.
Mall tenants and their employees are supposed to report such incidents to management, Rachner said. But nearly a week passed before he learned about what happened to the Perrins, he said.
Reassessing Security
The mall is reassessing security, which it does on a routine basis, he said. And because of last week’s incident, mall management will talk to tenants about the proper response to such problems, Rachner said.
“We are probably going to re-educate our tenants to understand that when they see or hear about an issue, they need to call the management office and security office immediately,” Rachner said.
Officials with Palais Royal say they have security cameras inside stores. But mall management typically decides whether to install surveillance cameras on the outside of shopping centers, not the department store, which is leasing the space.
‘People Should Comply’
Meanwhile, Chris Lauritzen, vice president of loss prevention for Stage Stores Inc., advises shoppers to exercise caution when walking in parking lots.
Lauritzen and other security experts say it’s dangerous for anyone to fight with assailants.
“Comply with what they ask,” Lauritzen said.
Sgt. Curtiss Pope with the Texas City Police Department said that no one should do what the Perrins did.
“There is ample opportunity to be injured severely,” Pope said. “People should comply to avoid injuries.”
Surveillance cameras and video recordings can aid police in apprehending and convicting criminals, Pope said. But police don’t have a say in whether private business install such cameras, he said.
No Regrets
Had they believed that their assailants had weapons, the Perrins say they would not have struggled.
They also say they want their story to serve as a cautionary tale to other shoppers. And they want Mall of the Mainland to consider installing surveillance cameras. The women now carry canisters of mace and pepper spray.
Susie said she does not regret her actions that night.
“This is my stuff; I worked hard for it,” she said. “It’s mine, and you’re not going to take it from me.”
ping
Yah I'm picturing the lass on the hood. Blam, Blam, Blam. Car stops moving. Lass retrieves purse. And three notches on the stock.
YOU GO GIRLS!!!!!!
Sounds like the mall should turn security over to the Perrins.
This is Texas. Forget about the pepper spray. Get a gun.
I'm picturing her straddling the vehicle. Just how tall is this lady anyway?
LOL.. Everythings bigger in Texas ;-)
Atta girl Susie! Just another reason to be Texan and proud!*~*........I bet they'll be in class next week for a concealed weapons permit.
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