A new kind of snatch-and-run crime was reported involving an elderly Korean-American couple in broad daylight in Los Angeles Koreatown.
Ambrance Kim, 98, and his wife, Vivian Lee, 85, were snatched near the intersection of 8th Street and Hobart Boulevard around 3 p.m. on May 8th. The two thieves approached the couple in a friendly manner and quickly stole a gold necklace from Kim’s neck and a wedding ring from Lee’s hand before fleeing. Lee told the Korea Daily that the thieves “suddenly appeared and vanished into thin air.”
The couple was heading to a clinic for acupuncture treatment when a car slowly followed them from behind and stopped in front of them. In the driver’s seat was a man, believed to be in his 40s, while a woman in her early 30s got out of the passenger seat and approached the couple.
“The woman approached us with a friendly smile and started talking to us,” Lee said. “She was complimenting us on our clothes and speaking frantically.” The Kims had lived in Brazil for 30 years. The woman said she was also from Brazil and spoke to Lee in Portuguese to show her friendliness.
After a short conversation, the woman got back into the vehicle and quickly drove away. Moments after the vehicle was gone, the couple realized that their gold necklace and wedding ring were missing. Lee said, “I think they cut off the gold necklace from behind and took it. She didn’t even force it off his neck, but it was gone,” Lee added, “I didn’t even realize my ring was missing because she was consistently touching my hand.”
BY KYEONGJUN KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
