I chased knife mugger, reveals Susanna
TV presenter Susanna Reid told yesterday how she chased a knife-wielding thug who stole her bag.
Ms Reid, 47, said she was “incandescent” with rage after the thief slashed the strap on her bag and chased him over a bridge.
He dropped the handbag, only managing to steal cash despite the brazen attack.
The Good Morning Britain host spoke out for the first time yesterday about the mugging 17 years ago in south London amid concern over the public failing to help police being viciously assaulted.
Just one person stopped to help two officers being kicked and beaten by thugs in Merton, south-west London on Saturday.
Ms Reid said: “I got mugged once by a guy with a knife and my instinct was to run after him. It’s not rational and obviously it was dangerous. He got scared and dropped my bag. I was incandescent. He slashed my bag and coat with a knife and ran off. I was driven by fight or flight but I wouldn’t advise anyone else to do that.
“He was running across a bridge and he was shaking the contents out of the bag.
“I had cash in there and he took that but I got my phone and my keys and stuff back.”
Ms Reid’s co-host Piers Morgan, 53, was shocked by her reaction and asked: “You chased them down?”
The mother-of-three admitted she was left shaken after the attack.
She said: “I was protected by my adrenalin. You are putting yourself at risk. It was red mist. I was acting on instinct.”
She added: “I went to an identity parade but I couldn’t pick out who it was. I wasn’t focussed on that. I wasn’t looking at him. I just wouldn’t let him get away with it.”