Arrest made in punch-and-run robbery

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin police have arrested 29-year-old Steven Lawrence Keller in the May 6 punch-and-run robbery that was captured on video outside an east Sixth Street bar.

Police credit the publicity generated by the video that showed a man running up behind a woman, slugging her, then sprinting away with her purse.

Keller was taken into custody over the weekend on an unrelated matter when police linked him to the attack. He is now charged with aggravated robbery by assault, a first-degree felony.

A woman who identified herself only as Merri suffered a split-lip, lost teeth and other injuries to her face in the attack.

“There were not many people out, it was barely dark, and then I woke up in an ambulance,” said Merri as she watched the video for the first time on Wednesday.

“I wish he would have just grabbed the purse and run. That is what I think when I have big needles in my mouth,” she said i n an interview just after the incident .

The injuries required oral surgery.

The incident happened outside the Liberty Bar as Merri was about to enter the building when she was attacked right in front of a surveillance camera.