ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Two men accused of stealing lawn equipment in Conway are also being investigated to see whether they're connected to a series of purse snatchings in Orange County, Channel 9 has learned.
Cellphone video shows two men being pulled from a gold, two-door Pontiac Sunfire after reports they stole lawn equipment from a flatbed truck in the Conway area.
The car resembles that of a vehicle that was recently used in two purse snatchings, police said.
One of the purse snatchings happened Sunday outside a Walgreens on Michigan Avenue.
Judy Hutsell believes the man who took her purse would have done anything to get it.
She recalls every detail of when her purse was ripped off her arm as she headed into the store.
“I turned to my left and we were eye-to-eye,” she said.
What she described is exactly what happened on surveillance video at a PetSmart on East Colonial Drive about 10 a.m. Friday.
The getaway car, driven by a woman, matched the description of the one Hutsell described.
The video shows a figure getting out of a gold, late-model Pontiac, wrestling the purse away from an unsuspecting shopper and taking off.
Hutsell recognized the car immediately when she saw the PetSmart video on the news.
Investigators from both Orange County and Orlando police said they believe the car was used in another incident on New Year's Eve when someone snatched a purse from a woman's car outside the Neighborhood Market Walmart on North Semoran Boulevard.