MILWAUKEE -- Thieves caught on camera stole a woman's purse Monday, and Tuesday came back for her car.
Salina Fay was sitting outside Art Bar in Riverwest on Sept. 26 when surveillance video shows two young men walking past her. The same men returned, but this time one stole her purse.
"At that point I thought they just wanted the money out of my purse," said Fay.
Fay called police Monday night, who were busy and asked her to report the theft the next day. While she waited, she disconnected her car's battery so the thieves, who had her car keys from her purse, couldn't steal her car overnight.
"The next morning it was there, so that was a good choice," she said.
Tuesday afternoon Fay's brother drove more than an hour to bring her a spare key. She drove to Art Bar to meet police and reported her stolen purse.
"I stayed chatting with some patrons of Art Bar for, I'd say, about an hour after police left," she said. "About 10 ft. from my vehicle."
In security camera footage from Tuesday you see Fay's car, a white sedan she just bought a month ago. Then you see two young men walking across the street from it, one crosses the street and gets in her car.
"I went in to say thank you to the bartender. 30 seconds later I came out and my car was driving away," she said.
Fay watched a second theft against her. Both happened within 24 hours in the same place.
"When I walked out of the bar and saw my car driving away I though to myself, 'Oh no, not this again.'"
She doesn't think her double misfortune was an accident.
"I believe the suspect probably saw me getting out of my car, noticed it was a newer car, and wanted to get my purse in order to get my car keys," said Fay.
She feels targeted.
"I never in a million years thought my purse being right in front of my underneath my arm would have gotten taken or the car that was 10 feet away from me," Fay said.
Fay warns others to go with their gut when they suspect something weird. She said she could forgive the young men for stealing her purse, but hopes they are caught and punished for taking her car. She had hundreds of dollars in expenses afterward. She's also working to get in touch with another woman who Fay was told had a similar experience on Brady St.
Police tell TODAY'S TMJ4 they are still investigating this case.
