Man foils attempted robbery: 'Could have been anybody's grandma layin' there on the ground'



UPDATE -- Police say they have located the silver Honda Accord in a church parking lot in South Seattle.  It is being processed for evidence.  This is a developing story and will be updated with new information as it is released.

PINEHURST, Wash. --  A beat-up silver Honda Accord is the key to finding the people who attacked and tried to rob a 74-year-old woman on Mother’s Day.



A man intervened, and while he says he’s no hero, things could have ended up much worse.

"In broad daylight, on Mother's Day of all days. You know, just pieces of garbage," Greg Kockritz said.

The sun had not even set.

"She had walked by a couple of minutes before, we waved."

The night quickly turning dark.



Ret. Detective Myrle Carner from Crime Stoppers says the 74-year-old woman was just walking from a grocery store in the Pinehurst area along northeast 125th Street.

"They follow her for a few blocks and then all of a sudden, they attack. They hit her from behind," he said. "They knock her down. They attempt to grab her purse. She hits her head on the cement."

That’s when Kockritz's instincts kicked in. He jumped the fence and ran to help her.  He says she was clutching onto her purse for dear life.

"Could have been anybody's grandma layin' there on the ground, gettin' beat up."

Carner explains why older people are now targets.

"You have young suspects, late teens to mid 20s attacking women well over the age of 70 normally and they want to take advantage of the fact that they don't fight back," he said. 

The two men attempting to rob her stopped in their tracks when hearing Kockritz yell.

"They looked right at me and then just dropped it and ran," he said.

Police say the suspects ran to a beat-up 1996 silver Honda Accord, where  two accomplices were waiting nearby.

Kockritz not letting go.

"I can close my eyes and see that car like right now," he said.



With the images of that night still haunting him, he attempts to make sense of it all.

"You shouldn't take what's not yours, you should work for what you get, not just take it from someone else." 

Acting— even when the dark overshadows the light-- is what Kockritz does best.

"I didn't know her name, I still don't know her name, but I'd do it again for her tomorrow if it happened again. I'm not a hero... I... just go try to help her. I mean that's what you do."

This is the vehicle detectives are looking for: A 1996 Honda Accord, plate number AYY7276

thumbnail_attempted purse snatch suspect vehicle



They haven't been able to find the owner because the car was sold last December and then sold again with no paperwork.

If you can identify the suspects, please submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at www.P3Tips.com or via the P3 Tips App that you can download to your phone for free. There is cash reward of up to $1,000 if your tip leads to an arrest in the case.