Hit and run in The Hague: Thief hits elderly woman with car after stealing her purse

A 76-year-old woman was mugged on De Savornin Lohmanplein in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon and then run over by the thief who stole her purse, the police said. The police arrested a suspect later on Wednesday.

The incident happened at around 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Emergency services rushed the critically injured woman to a hospital. The suspect fled the scene in a black Honda.

At around 22:30 p.m., the police arrested a 41-year-old man from Portugal on Treublaan for the robbery and hit-and-run. "The stolen car that he drove during the robbery was also found in the neighborhood," the police said. The suspect is in custody for questioning.

Bystanders told Omroep West that the elderly woman was leaving the shopping center on De Savornin Lohmanplein when the thief grabbed her purse. She went after the thief and ended up standing in front of his car to prevent him from leaving. The man accelerated and drove right over the woman.

“She didn’t want to give it up, a brave woman from The Hague who stood up for her things,” her son-in-law told the broadcaster. He was on the way back home from vacation with his wife when they got the call that his mother-in-law was in critical condition in the hospital.

“Fortunately, she is out of danger but is in a bad condition. She and the doctors are fighting to keep both her legs, but whether that will work is still very much the question. She will need several surgeries, if successful at all,” the son-in-law said.

They spoke with her shortly before the surgery. She wanted to know if they had found her shopping cart. “She asked if we found the flowers and the card intended to welcome us back home from vacation.”

According to the son-in-law, “many lovely people” helped after the horrible incident, taking care of his mother-in-law, notifying the police, noting what the driver and his car looked like, and taking care of the woman’s shopping cart.