DICKSON CITY, Pa. -- Karen McNichols tells Newswatch 16 it was a normal trip to the grocery store when a woman ran up to her in the parking lot of Wegman's in Dickson City, grabbed her purse and took off with it.
McNichols instinctively tried to hang on to her purse as the woman climbed into another vehicle and drove off.
"I can't believe people could be so mean and I don't know how people can sleep nights that are like that," said McNichols.
Police say it was 36-year-old Shannon Trott who grabbed McNichols purse and 31-year-old Peter Porth, who drove the vehicle.
"She's bad enough, she took the purse but what kind of man would knock a 75-year-old woman down and then drive off? Who does that?"
McNichols says it was unlike anything she had experienced before.
"I don't know what to say. It was just jarring, really jarring. I never ever thought in a million years something like this would happen."
She says having her purse out in her cart made her an easy target.
"I should have put my purse in the trunk before I start putting my food in there but I didn't."
McNichols says she is recovering from a shoulder injury on the same side she was hurt from being knocked down in the robbery. The pain is making it hard for her to sleep.
"Yeah, I didn't know what to do with my arm and I just, if I dozed off it was for ten minutes. I saw every hour on the hour."
McNichols tells Newswatch 16 many good people were there to help her afterward. One man followed the crooks to get a plate number. Another woman offered condolences and money.
"I think they were tremendous. I mean, as bad as some people are in this world, there's wonderful people, really and truly, and I just hope they see the article in the paper or see this and realize how much I appreciate their help.
Both Trott and Porth are locked up in Lackawanna County on $75,000 bail.
Karen McNichols says she's going to change the way she shops and will be buying a purse that straps to her body.