Grandview Police are looking for three women suspected in an armed robbery and an attempted armed robbery.
Detectives told 41 Action News the suspects targeted women as they left stores and attacked them as they sat in their cars.
In both cases, police said the suspects used pepper spray in order to steal, or try to steal, the victims’ purses.
“In the nine years that I have been here, I have never seen anything like this,” said Grandview detective Jonathan Nicholas.
Sharon Hall was one of the victims.
“I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t see, couldn’t tell if anybody was helping me,” she said.
Hall sat down with 41 Action News and she ran to the store on June 27 around 4:45 p.m. to get her husband a card for their 25th wedding anniversary.
But before she could finish writing “I love you,” her car door opened.
“I looked and it was just immediately in my face,” she said. “I had maze in my mouth, had it in my nose, had it in my eyes and everything is burning.”
One woman, Hall said, sprayed pepper spray in her face while another woman opened her passenger-side door and took her purse.
Police say the suspects attempted to rob another woman after but the victim was able to lock her doors and prevent the suspects from using the spray on her or getting inside her car.
“As soon as you get in your car, you should first lock your car,” said Nicholas. “You should also be aware of your surroundings.”
The robberies happened June 27 around 4:45 p.m. in the 12300 and 12000 blocks of I-49.
The suspects are believed to have left the area in a 2006 to 2010 four-door Silver Chevrolet Impala.
Detectives say two of the suspects captured walking into a store on surveillance cameras are believed to be in their late teens to early 20s.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
