SAN ANTONIO – A local woman's car shopping spree was cut short when a man snatched her purse while she was sitting inside of a car dealership. By all accounts, it appeared to be a carefully plotted heist.
On Jan. 25, Valerie Berlanga and her fiancé walked into First Choice Auto on Interstate 35.
She said she remembers sitting down with a salesperson to fill out a loan application.
"The salesman had asked us if we had the money and I said, yes, because I had it in my purse, so I was counting how much we had," Berlanga said.
A short time later, Berlanga's fiancé walked out to get some papers, leaving her inside.
She was one table away from another customer, who could be seen on camera walking outside, behind a fence, then returning.
"He was sitting at the table right next to us and he was sitting in the position where he could see me and my purse and everything that was happening at the table," Berlanga said.
Within a few minutes, another guy is seen coming from the same side of the fence, walking in and grabbing her purse.
By the time she got up, he was out the door.
"I was extremely surprised because that's not something I had even heard of happening," said dealership manager Beth Bryan.
Bryan also confirmed the crime was captured on four different surveillance cameras.
She said as far as security goes, there is not much more they can do.
The dealership has no plans to cover the money stolen from Berlanga's purse, explaining that they were still in the application process and that the sale hadn't even started to go through.
As for the investigation, Bryan explains the dealership is cooperating 100 percent with police and has already handed over the surveillance video.