Thief targets senior after bank transaction in Berwick

A Berwick-area woman in her 80s has a cautionary tale to share after a disconcerting run-in with a crafty thief.

The woman, who does not wish to be identified for security reasons, went to a Royal Bank in Berwick to withdraw $300 in cash last week.

She noticed a man having a cigarette near the steps of the bank on her way in, but didn’t think much of it until she encountered that man again after returning to her vehicle parked in a grocery store lot nearby.

She said she placed her handbag on the seat of her car, and the man approached her under the guise that he was concerned her car was leaking fluid.

“He ran around the front and said, ‘It’s just gushing out,” the woman recalled.

Seconds later, the man grabbed the door to the woman’s car and got his hands on the cash in her bag.

She yelled at him to put the money back, and started trying to hit his hands with her cane.

“He took three twenties and threw the rest on the street and ran,” she said, adding that she’s thankful she was not injured.

“It all happened so fast that I was left dumbfounded. It was somebody that knew what they were doing.”

She said the fact that the man only stole $60 when he had more cash in his hands is perplexing, to say the least.

“The loss of the money was secondary to the incident, but it’s a good thing for other people to watch (for),” she said.

“I’m sure if he’d do that to me he’d do it to other people. It shouldn’t go unnoticed.”