Police were continuing their hunt for a man suspected of robbing and battering an elderly woman outside her Ardmore Avenue home on Christmas Eve.
The woman had withdrawn $400 from a Citibank ATM on Pier Avenue about 11 p.m., then walked to her parked vehicle and drove to her home on the 2500 block of Ardmore, in the north part of town.
She parked her vehicle in her garage and walked to the trunk, where she was confronted by a man who said something she could not make out, then assaulted her, causing injury, and fled with her purse, police said.
“It is unknown if the victim was followed home by the suspect in a vehicle,” said Hermosa Beach Police Detective Mick Gaglia. “Video surveillance taken from the area of the bank shows an unknown make and model dark colored vehicle driving behind the victim’s vehicle.”
Torrance Police Department forensic artist Carrie Harris worked with the robbery victim to produce a sketch of the suspect, described as a black man 25 to 35 years old, standing 5-feet-11 to 6-feet-1, clean shaven with short black hair.
“HBPD Detectives are requesting any assistance from the public regarding this vicious robbery,” Gaglia said.
He urged anyone with information to contact Detective David Bohacik at (310) 318-0330 or dbohacik@hermosapolice.org. ER
