The older sister, Jamie requested we only use her first name. She described how she was driving her 54-year-old mother home last week when in surveillance video, being used in the Oakland police investigation, you can see a man follow the woman up to the front steps of her home.
When the man climbs the steps after her and grabs her purse, you can see her son sprint out and struggle with the man.
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After a short tug-of-war the man runs away and both the son and Jamie run after the man who jumps into a getaway car.
Thankfully mom was not badly injured, though she does have some abrasions from where the purse was ripped from her arm.
Jamie said she and her brother weren't thinking about their own safety, just how to protect their mom:
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"Sometimes parents get nervous very easily and they don't know what to do. As the younger generation we try to protect the elder generation."
Jamie also said she called this incident "bad luck" because her family has been attacked and robbed twice in the past. Both of those incidents took place in different parts of the city.
She's also thankful for neighbors who saw what was happening and started screaming -- and helped provide surveillance to OPD. So far there have been no arrests.