Caught on camera: Man steals 80-year-old acupuncturist's purse in Baychester
Employees at the physical therapy office say they recognize the man from the neighborhood and were stunned by the theft.
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An 80-year-old acupuncturist says she’s still shaken after a man walked into her Baychester office this week and stole her purse. The brazen crime was captured on surveillance video Monday.
“I left everything here… then I come out—nothing! Oh, my goodness!” said Mei Ling Bigley, recalling the moments around the theft.
Bigley told News 12 that the man entered the office right before she was about to leave for lunch. When he came in, she thought he was a patient, so she stepped away to look for his chart. She says that while she stepped away, he took her purse. Inside were her ID, credit cards, car key and about $300 in cash.
"Then I just feel like faint," Bigley recalled. "I don't know what to do. I devote to my work to want to help him, if he's a patient, and how dare he do that to me?"
Employees at the physical therapy office say they recognize the man from the neighborhood and were stunned by the theft.
Bigley says she loves her work and plans to keep showing up.
“You don’t want to be staying home doing nothing," she said. "You have to keep working!”
Police say no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Bigley has a message for the thief.
“Give my purse back to me! If you want money, I can loan you, you know, temporarily,” she said.
