Navy veteran Kendrick Taylor and other good Samaritans helped a 76-year-old woman being attacked in a Florida grocery parking lot, catching the assailant and holding him until police arrived.
Taylor said
he was in the Winn Dixie parking lot when he heard the woman screaming and immediately ran to help.
"When I looked down, I didn't know if he had a knife or a gun, but I just saw the lady. She was so old, and when he threw her down, she was so fragile, and
I knew she needed help," Taylor told WPTV, which showed him video surveillance of the situation for the first time.
The suspect, John Zachary DesJardin, 23, ran away, and Taylor, along with another bystander, tackled him to the ground. DesJardin has been charged with attempted robbery and battery on a person over 65, WPTV said.
"When I finally got my hands on him, I just apprehended him, and I told some local people to call the police, and they got here and I kept him down," Taylor told WPTV.
The arrest report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel said the assailant approached the woman and grabbed at her purse, which she held onto and began screaming for help.
"The defendant continued to pull on the victim's purse forcefully in an effort to pry it out of her hands,” the Sentinel quoted the report. When the woman fell to the ground, people nearby rushed to help her. The victim had minor injuries and refused medical attention, the newspaper said.
As many as 10 people were involved in helping the woman during the incident, police told the Sentinel.
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