INDIANAPOLIS -- An elderly woman says she let her guard down when a young man robbed her right outside her east side apartment.
Evelyn Gose, 72, had just returned home from the grocery store when a young man asked if she needed help carrying her groceries. She declined, but that didn't end the encounter.
"Just as I bent down to pick up my stuff, he grabbed my purse and ran up the steps," Gose said.
The thief stole more than $200 from her, as well as her driver's license and debit cards.
Gose's neighbor heard the crime, but by the time he came out to help, the bandit was gone.
"I usually help her carry her groceries in," Ronald Reedus said. "I thought it was so wrong for them to do that. The apartment complex needs a little bit more security, you know what I mean?"
Gose, who is on a fixed income, says the loss will make things difficult for her.
"I feel so violated," she said. "I had money designated for a cellphone. Money designated for a friend who helped me fix my car. It's very upsetting."
Apartment managers at the Villages at Mill Crossing declined to be interviewed on camera, but said they have security on duty 24 hours a day.
On Friday, Gose gave RTV6 an update, saying she had received cards and money from donors looking to help her replace what she lost.
Gose's daughter said she couldn't thank her mother's donors enough.
"These people who are throwing blessings toward my mom," she said, "I pray blessings flow on them and be outpoured 10, 20, 30-fold. Because we are to be that way."
If you'd like to help contact RTV6 reporter Derrik Thomas at derrik.thomas@wrtv.com.
