WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Police in Wheat Ridge announced Tuesday that an arrest had been made in connection with an attack and robbery of an elderly woman outside a store in broad daylight.
Contarius Lamonye Alexander, 21, was arrested in Aurora on a warrant for attempted first-degree assault. Formal charges have yet to be filed.
Alexander is accused of seriously injuring an 87-year-old woman during a purse robbery outside a Dollar Tree store on West 44th Avenue and North Harlan Street on Jan. 7.
The attack was caught by the store’s surveillance camera and shows the victim, Patricia Scott, being thrown to the ground and dragged as she clings to her purse.
The ordeal put Scott in the intensive care unit at Lutheran Hospital. She suffered broken bones and sustained head trauma, according to her family.
Wheat Ridge police say the suspect had been casing the store for several minutes, at one point walking inside. He followed other customers but targeted Scott for her purse.
Scott's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with her expenses.
Alexander has been booked into the Jefferson County Jail.