A woman was followed into a building headed to an appointment in San Francisco's Castro District when she was attacked and robbed.
She didn't want to let the purse snatcher get away without a fight, and it was all caught on video.
Whitney Peterson said she was having a great day before the incident happened. When the suspect yanked her purse, she said adrenaline kicked in.
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"That bag was a birthday present for years ago, and it meant everything to me," Peterson said. "And he stole that from me, and I was so angry," she explained.
The video shows how she tackled the suspect and tried to get her purse back.
When she jumped on her attacker, she said she also hit her head on the pavement but decided to get up and chase him regardless.
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She lost him when he jumped into a waiting getaway car.
A witness, Michael Chidambaram saw it all unfold.
"I heard some screaming, looked out the window and saw a scuffle on the sidewalk," he described, "then a woman run to a car screaming as though she was chasing someone, then the door closed and the car drove off."
They weren't able to get a picture of the getaway car, but believe it was a silver four door sedan, possibly a Toyota or Nissan.
They did however get an image of the alleged attacker as he entered the building.
Residents and business owners in the Castro have been raising concerns about a recent rise in crime, and point to this incident as a prime example.
"I think we need better security in Castro, and probably a lot of neighborhoods in San Francisco," Chidambaram said, "and something that deters criminals from coming here to commit crimes."
Castro merchants recently sent a letter to the Mayor's Office demanding the city do more to deal with street crimes and unhoused people interrupting businesses in the neighborhood.
Peterson said she's been the victim of crime in the city before.
"I just am so sick of these people doing these things," she said. "Like, they think they can get away with it and I was trying my best to get my bag back and I wasn't able to do that."
NBC Bay Area reached out to the San Francisco Police Department about the incident, but have not yet heard back.
