Woman robbed, attacked and dragged through Walmart parking lot

GALVESTON, Texas – A retired nurse loading groceries outside a Galveston Walmart on Friday morning was robbed, attacked and dragged through the parking lot.

Bruised, badly injured and in a world of hurt, Linda Stephens is now recovering at the University of Texas-Medical Branch in Galveston.

"I was just stunned, because he didn't look like a robber," Stephens said.

Early Friday morning, Stephens was shopping at the Walmart Supercenter at 69th St. and loading her groceries into her car. That's when a man approached the retired nurse and her regular routine became a frightening experience.

"He said, 'Give me your purse' and pulled a gun from his waistband," she said.

"He grabbed her bag and when he did it, it wrenched her shoulder out and dislocated her shoulder," her husband, David Stephens, said.

Linda Stephens said she didn't struggle, but her purse got hung up and wouldn't come off.

That's when a getaway car with another robber pulled up and they drove off as one of the men was still holding onto the purse.

"I landed on my right side, and they started dragging me. I flipped to my other side. He dragged me like 20 feet," she said.

"She had terrible road rash, cuts on her arms knees and side. It looks bad," David Stephens said.

The suspects only got away with $50 in cash, and some now-canceled credits cards.

"I can't call them men, because men don't attack a 62-year-old woman. And they had to use a gun at that," she said.

Stephens is left with weeks of recovery time and likely thousands in hospital bills.

"It's bad enough she's in the hospital. But next time, they kill someone for nothing," David Stephens said.

"I hope they get caught, because I don't want anyone else to go through what I had to go through. It's just horrible. A horrible feeling," Linda Stephens said.


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