Police are looking for two men who allegedly jumped a woman from behind, assaulted her before stealing her purse Sunday afternoon.
Officials with the Thunder Bay Police Service say officers responded to reports of the robbery in the 100 block of Nelson Street shortly after 3:30 p.m.
Police say a 26-year-old woman was jumped from behind and knocked to the ground by two unknown men who stole her purse in front of a residence.
Police say they are now looking for two men, standing between five feet and five inches to six-feet tall.
The first suspect is described as an Aboriginal man in his mid-20-years-old. He has a birthmark or mole on the left side of his face, a five-inch long ponytail and his left ear is pierced with a large gemstone earing.
The suspect wore a black hoodie with a white logo, or writing, on the hip area on the right side.
The second suspect is also described as being an Aboriginal man in his mid 20-years-old.
He is said to have scruffy facial hair and collar-length hair. This second suspect wore a white hoodie with mud on the back.
Police say the victim was taken to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where she was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Police spokeswoman Const. Julie Tilbury says it’s always concerning when a robbery such as this takes place because there’s always a chance the victim could get hurt. She said she can’t recall many incidents where physical violence was involved in a robbery but added that the last one she could recall was about a year ago and involved an older woman.
“We do not have a lot of robberies such as this with violence that are occurring in our community,” Tilbury said. “This is out of the norm for us that’s why we’re taking it quite seriously. We take this case-by-case.”
Tilbury said the best advice for people to stay safe is to be aware of their surroundings, stay in a public place and always put personal safety above personal belongings.
The investigation into the incident continues.
Note to readers: More details have been released regarding the description of the two suspects. The current version of the story now reflects those new details.
