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Thieves target women in distress in separate KCMO attacks

Posted at 4:47 PM, Oct 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-12 18:35:36-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two women quickly became targets for thieves in two different areas of the city.

The criminals in both cases police say are men who targeted women in distress.

A pile of crime tape at 24th and Topping is the only indication that a vicious attack took place Wednesday night.

A woman’s car broke down around 8:15 p.m., as she waited for help police said a man pulled up in a pickup truck.

She thought he was a Good Samaritan. He wasn't — he demanded her money. 

"He grabbed her, he ripped her shirt, cut her—in the struggle she was able to flee. She heard shots fired behind her," Capt. Stacey Graves, a KCPD spokesperson, said Thursday.

Paramedics took the woman to get treated for her cut. 

David Symons who lives up the block saw the police investigation when he came home from church.

"It’s just unsettling that people seem to be getting more and more violent," Symons said.

Symons knows the neighborhood is notorious for its crime. In March — a drive-by shooting was caught on camera at 23rd and Topping.

But Symons told 41 Action News police stepped up patrols using ATVs and the area is better lit nowadays. 

“The streetlight program did do quite a bit for this area but there could be more especially with there being a public park then we get transients that do camp down by the river,” Symons said.

Thieves used a park in another overnight attack targeting a woman.

In the second case, a woman was driving north on Broadway along Penn Valley Park Thursday at 1:20 a.m. when a pick-up truck hit her bumper.

When she went to inspect the damage, a man with a shotgun emerged from the truck.

He demanded her keys and took off in her car. 

As of Thursday evening, police did not have a good description of the suspects in either case. 
If you have any information regarding these incidents call KC Police or the KC Crimestoppers Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Police want you to know if you’re in a situation where your car breaks down, call someone and let them know where you are. If someone comes up to your window, keep your windows up and doors locked and say that someone is on the way to help. If you feel like your life is in danger, simply call 911.