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Mar 20, 2009 4:32 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Grandmother Chases Thieves For 8 Miles
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A North Texas grandmother takes matters into her own hands when someone breaks into her car right in front of her. The woman chased the suspects nearly eight miles through Fort Worth.
The incident began in the 3000 block of Brighton Street, where Sharon Mason Ford was in the neighborhood collecting rent from a tenant. It was then that Ford says two men pulled up next to her car and shattered the window. "Glass was everywhere," she said.
Ford said she did all she could to catch the criminals, but the men are still on the loose.
Ford said she wasn't scared when she saw someone breaking into her Lexus; she was angry. "And I said, not at 4:30 in the afternoon. No, no. Not after I've gone to work all day. No."
The 55-year-old grandmother wasn't about to let the two thieves, in a red Chevy Blazer, get away without a fight. So, she jumped in her car and started chasing them. "I'm blowing the horn. I'm flashing," she recalled. "I've got all windows down and I'm saying call 911, and I'm pointing...call 911."
Ford says the pursuit continued for miles through southeast Fort Worth and at times reached speeds up to 100 miles per hour. "And I'm driving with window and glass flying."
At one point the special education teacher passed two police officers. "I said, 'Help!' I begin to holler at them [and] blow my horn more. I said 'Follow them; they've got my purses'."
Eventually, the suspects crashed the Blazer, which had been reported stolen, Forbes Street. The men were able to get away before police officers could catch up to them.
Now, Ford is hoping anyone who knows who the thieves are will turn them in.
While police are continuing their investigation, Ford said she is mostly thankful to have her bags back; along with all of her credit cards, business papers and Bible. "I was so glad to get my bags and when I looked in them and everything was there -- my cell phone, my purse, my ID for work -- I'm saying yeah!"
Fort Worth police say it's not safe to do what Ford did. The woman said she realizes the situation could have become more violent, but said she wasn't thinking about that at the time.
Anyone with information about the thieves is asked to call the Fort Worth Police Department at (817) 392-4300.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
RAW VIDEO: 100-Mile Police Chase
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