BOCA RATON — On Wednesday, February 22, at about 5 p.m., Boca Raton Police responded to a robbery by sudden snatching that occurred about 20 minutes earlier on SW 2nd Avenue.
The 12-year-old victim told officers her school bus dropped her off near the Salvation Army at 300 SW 2nd Avenue about 4:40 p.m. As she walked south on 2nd Avenue toward her grandmother’s house, she noticed a newer model white van driving slowly behind her.
Police said that when she arrived at her grandmother’s house, no one answered the door, so she walked to a friend’s house on SW 2nd Avenue. As she approached the apartment building, police said, she saw that the van was parked on the swale facing south on the east side of the road. The victim avoided the van and went to her friend’s apartment, but no one was home.
As she sat on the building steps on the north side of the building texting a friend, the driver of the van approached her. The male asked the victim her name, but she was scared and walked away without answering him.
Police said the suspect followed her, then got in front of her and screamed, “Why won’t you answer me?” The suspect grabbed the victim’s cell phone and threw it on the ground causing it to break. The victim told officers she was very frightened and ran to another friend’s house where she called police.
If anyone has information about this crime, they are asked to call Detective Elizabeth Roberts at (561) 620-6135 or Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS.