A woman visiting Dallas on a weekend getaway said she was sucker punched and a man tried to steal her purse outside the front door of the Dallas World Aquarium.
Lorielle New, an actress from Los Angeles, said she set out to see the sights Monday afternoon, and after visiting the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza headed to the aquarium.
"Dallas was so friendly. Everywhere I walked people were giving me direction, I saw cops everywhere," New said. "I was like, 'This is a really friendly, nice town.'"
As she was walking up the walkway to the aquarium entrance, she says a man, who appeared as if he was exiting, walked just past her before turning and punching her in the side of the head.
"As he passes me he sucker punches me, cold-cocked in the side of my head," New said. "I crumpled on the ground, out cold for at least a second."
She says when she came to, the man was trying to wrestle her purse from beneath her arm.
"I think it was in an awkward position because he was having trouble, and I was holding it tight, and I just started screaming my head off," New said.
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New said she chased the man for what she said felt like 10 to 15 minutes across downtown Dallas. During that time he entered a parking garage where he brandished a knife, ran through a building and crossed Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail tracks. New said she followed him the entire way.
At some point the man dropped the knife, but it was recovered by a witness who gave it to police, according to Dallas Police.
The man finally ran into an area where DART Police were present, and they were able to stop him, before Dallas Police arrived.
Jeffrey Davis, 52, was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery, according to Dallas Police.
"He was not getting away. I was like, 'You are not getting away.' I'm not going to be a victim. I'm not going to let you get away. I'm not going to let anybody else get hurt by this guy that would be so brazen as to punch you in the back of the head in front of a tourist place where people and their kids are in the middle of the day," New said.
New suffered a few bumps and bruises, but was not seriously injured.
