An 86-year-old Dundee woman robbed of cash and family jewellery by a man she believed to be a taxi driver said she wanted to “break her crutches over his head”.
Lucia Rizza’s purses, which included her late sister’s watch, were taken after the man offered to help her into her home in the Craigie area of the city with her shopping on Sunday.
Mrs Rizza had been shopping in Gallagher Retail Park and asked a shop to call her a taxi. When they refused, a man in the store offered to drive her home.
She said: “It had a sign on the roof and a meter on the dashboard.I paid the fare and gave him the bag because he said he would carry it.
“I gave him the key to open the door and put the messages inside and he did.He said to me the keys were in the door and the messages were on the floor in the hallway.
“I thanked him and he left. I thought he took a long time to come out of the house. The first thing I did was pick up the bag and my purse was gone. I knew right away.”
Mrs Rizza added: “If I ever get my hands on him I’ll break my crutches over his head. I’m really disappointed he could do something like that.
“My sister’s watch was in there and that’s the thing annoying me most. I’m 86, and I wasn’t expecting that to be happening to me.
“It’s upsetting me terribly, I didn’t think this could happen.”
A police spokesman said: “Tayside Division is following positive lines of enquiry after a report that an 86-year-old woman was robbed of her two handbags after being picked up by a taxi in Dundee.
“The woman was picked up at Gallagher Retail Park and taken home at about 4.10pm yesterday afternoon. She got into the vehicle on the understanding it was a registered taxi. The woman was shaken but unhurt.
“Officers are keen to trace the driver of a white people carrier type vehicle.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.