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Florida Mall robbery victim talks to WFTV

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County deputies released a composite sketch Thursday of a man they said robbed a mother and her daughter outside the Florida Mall.

Deputies said they credit the victims with being able to hold it together and take note of the man's description as he held a knife to their throats.

Deputies said the white man was in his early 50s. They said he approached Lynn Girling and her 28-year-old daughter about 7 p.m. last Saturday night as they were getting into their cars in the parking lot.

Investigators said the man put a knife up to Girling's throat, demanded both purses and other belongings, and then took off on foot.

"He held a knife to me and he says, 'Stop screaming, the knife is sharp,'" Girling said.

The women were parked in a dim area of the parking lot and there were no surveillance cameras, authorities said.

Girling, however, was able to give detectives a detailed description of the robber, including the color of his hair and even wrinkles on his forehead and freckles on his cheek.

"I just stared at him when he had the knife on me and when my daughter was giving all the stuff up," she said. "I just kept thinking, I hope he doesn't do anything to her."

The mall has security and a deputy was assigned to the mall as well, but investigators believe
the robber waited for the right time to strike, when no one was looking.

Deputies have increased patrols in the area as part of a special operation to deter thieves.