Published: June 21, 2009 10:10 am      

2 teens held in robbery at mall

Two teenagers from Kyle are facing felony charges for taking the purse of an elderly Mexican citizen Friday afternoon.

According to Sgt. Fred Wisener of the San Marcos Police Department, the 71-year-old woman was sitting on a bench at one of the outlet malls around 2:30 p.m. when the two teens ran up, hit her on the head and stole her purse.

He said officers “got a pretty good vehicle description and license plate,” and later spotted and stopped the vehicle near the intersection of Sherbarb and Barbara Drive.

Some of the woman’s property was in the vehicle and the rest — except for her Green Card — was found with the purse dumped in a dumpster on Smith Lane.

Arrested were 18-year-old Michael Richard Mendoza and 19-year-old Isaac Lupe Diaz Jr. Wisener said each was charged with aggravated robbery, explaining that the crime was a robbery because the victim was injured, and that it is an aggravated offense because of her age.

They were also charged with injury to an elderly person.

Wisener said the woman had flown to Chicago to visit family and was en route back to her home in the state of Jalisco by bus.