A trip to the supermarket turned dangerous for a woman and her daughter, attacked in the middle of a parking lot.

“I would have never thought it here. Never, never," says mom Janet Isley about the grocery outing they've made many times before. “I've always known this area to be safe and nice and to just be robbed like that was just stunning,” says daughter Christine.

Around 8 o'clock one recent night, Janet and Christine walked to their car at the Hy-Vee near 84th and Cass when from behind, someone charged them. “At first I was shocked, I didn't know what was going on," says Janet. "I thought, uh oh.”

He slammed Christine into the car and threw her mother to the ground, but not before police say 21-year-old Scott Hauser tried to snatch a two-for-one deal. “I realized that he was trying to get my purse and my strap had broke," says Janet. "He's pulling on the purse and I'm pulling on it."

“I was sitting there screaming at him because he was trying to get her purse and I didn't know if she had fell on her hand,” says Christine. “The straps broke and kind of hit him in the face," says Janet. "He just kind of stood there looking at me and then took off running.”

A store employee chased after the man. He never got away with either purse.

There have been four similar crimes around the city in the last 30 days. “There's enough horrible things in the world, you don't have to worry about that, but I guess people need things and so they'll get them any way they want," says Janet.

"I'd like to tell him thank you for scaring us and attacking my mom like that," says Christine. "It was not very nice of him.”

To protect yourself from this situation, police say park in well-lit areas, be aware of your surroundings, hold your purse close and tight, and carry only essentials inside.

Hauser faces felony attempted robbery charges.