Assault victim gives warning to others

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A woman who met her friends on South Congress Avenue Saturday night was robbed and beaten just a block away from where they enjoyed food and drinks minutes earlier.

Now she hopes everyone learns from her valuable lesson without the bruises.

“I figured it was safe because I was a block away from Perla’s and Kendra Scott,” said the woman who did not want to be identified.

The 29-year-old had just left Perla’s and was walking towards her car around 10:30 p.m. when she was attacked by two women who robbed her of her purse and then slammed her head into the concrete.

“I basically just walked right into them,” she said.

Police are now looking for two Hispanic women in their early 20s and the 1990s-model maroon car they used to get away.

The victim said one of the girls who attacked her had black, curly hair and bad teeth.

While neighbors say random attacks like this are uncommon in the area, they can see why criminals would  prey on South Congress customers.

"It's a good area to be looking for some cash," said Carol Stensrud who lives on the street where the attack happened. "I mean everybody here that's parking and going around and around the block has nice cars and money to eat out."

Detective Corey Wroblewski with the Austin Police Department’s robbery division calls the robbery a “crime of opportunity.”

“They seized the opportunity and unfortunately the victim ended up getting assaulted and robbed," he said.

The manager of Guero's told KXAN News one of his employees recently had her purse snatched while walking to her car after a shift.

Similar crimes know no boundaries and can occur even in the most affluent of areas such as South Congress.

“This crime could have easily happened in another part of the city,” said Wroblewski, who does not think the attack is indicative to a crime spike in the SoCo district or connected to other assaults that have occurred in the area.

He said walking with friends or in well-lit areas are ways to eliminate the opportunity for crime.

The victim admits to being in a dangerous area even though she was less than a block away from South Congress Avenue.

“Nobody was around. It was dark and there were no lights on,” she said.