Woman punched, robbed in Euless parking lot

A woman who was punched and robbed in the parking lot of a Euless shopping center says she was terrified for her two children.

They were with her when the ambush attack happened last Wednesday night. The crime was recorded on surveillance and police are looking for two suspects who may be linked to other violent crimes.

Euless police think the same group of men are responsible for as many as a dozen similar crimes in Euless over the past year.

The most recent incident happened Dec. 12 in a parking lot in the 500 block of North Main Street. The robbers had apparently been waiting for the woman as she came out of a store with her two children, a girl, 7, a boy, 5.

As the woman was about to enter her SUV a man jumps out of the back seat of a sedan parked next to her and punches the woman. That knocked her to the ground and he stole her purse.

As the late model Dodge Dart sped away, it almost struck one of her children.

“My car was parked right here. I didn’t see anything suspicious,” the mother said, who asked not to have her name used or face shown on TV.

“I was really scared. I was knocked out and I blinked and my daughter was next to me and she was, ‘Mom are you okay? Are you okay?” the mother said. “Even at nighttime I get nightmares too. Even my kids, they don’t want to sleep by themselves any more. They’re traumatized. So I’m hoping they get caught soon.”

The victim still has a noticeable bruise on her cheekbone where the man struck her, but she says there was no fracture and she seems to be healing well.

Euless police posted still pictures of two suspects taken from other surveillance cameras. They believe the same men may be involved in a series of thefts and robberies that began last December.

Police say the suspects seem to be targeting owners of small businesses and women of Asian descent.

"The suspects are waiting in the parking lot so if they see anything that seems unusual you see a car with some individuals that are just sitting in it seem to not be doing anything not visiting any of the businesses basically casing them then we would want to be notified,” said Euless PD Sgt. Scott Peterson.

The owner of a barbershop in the same strip mall says a lot of people are troubled by the string of similar crimes.

“The ladies next door, female a couple doors down, older women they are really scared really frightened. I’ve been talking to a lot of them,” said owner Gerick Pariai. “Something needs to happen. They need to get caught.”

Anyone with information about this incident or others like it is asked to call 817-685-1535 or 817-685-1531.