BURBANK : Knife-Wielding Purse Thief Sought

Burbank police searched Monday for a knife-wielding purse snatcher suspected of violently attacking two elderly women in separate incidents, but they said they had no suspects.

Burbank Police Sgt. Don Goldberg said the two incidents happened minutes apart Sunday morning, in broad daylight on fairly well-traveled streets.

The first assault took place about 11:15 a.m. as a 65-year-old woman walked to her home in the 3500 block of West Alameda Avenue.

Goldberg said a man pulled up in a car, got out wielding a small knife and demanded her purse. The woman did not resist, Goldberg said, but her purse strap caught on her arm and the assailant slashed her in the neck before running off without the purse. The woman sustained only superficial wounds, Goldberg said.

Fifteen minutes later, a 67-year-old woman returning from church services was punched and beaten in the 2100 block of West Olive Avenue. The assailant then kicked and stabbed her at least six times while she was on the ground before fleeing with her purse, Goldberg said.

The woman was treated at a nearby hospital for a five-inch cut on her neck, three stab wounds to her mid-back, a stab wound to her right breast, one to her right hip and one to her left wrist, Goldberg said.

The names of both victims were withheld.

The assailant was described as white, in his late 30s or early 40s, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing an olive drab T-shirt, pants and a black or dark blue baseball cap.