Someone ambushed a 78-year-old woman outside a downtown Spokane restaurant Thursday and stole her purse, police said.

The incident occurred at the Just Like Home Buffet, 202 W. First.

The victim told police she noticed a skinny white man standing outside the restaurant when she went in about 7 p.m.

She said the man attacked her when she left the business, knocking her to the ground and grabbing her purse. She received cuts to her face and abrasions on her hands and knees in the attack, police said.

Another restaurant customer chased the thief but couldn’t catch him. The victim’s purse was recovered, minus her money and credit cards.

Witnesses said the purse-snatcher was in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall with shoulder-length brown hair.

, DataTimes