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Instant Karma For Purse Thief, Was It Justified?

Stolen Purse
"This red really compliments my balaclava, and the color of my eyes..."

Christine Braswell, 26, from North Carolina claimed that she spotted a man going through her SUV in the parking lot of an Asheville Walmart on Wednesday afternoon. She alleged that he ran off with her purse as soon as she confronted him.

Braswell, who is also pregnant, said she ran after him on foot but then came up with a different plan.

“Me being five months pregnant, I chased a little ways then come back, jumped in the car, threw it in gear and come across the curb and ran him over,” she told WLOS-TV. “I was not going to let him get away with it. It’s not right, it’s not fair.”

The man, later identified as Robert Raines, was also confronted by Blake Bennett.

“When I walked out of Walmart, he had her purse and was pulling all of her stuff out,” Bennett told WLOS. “Then me and my friend told him to put it down and ‘What are you doing?’”

Another witness, Janice Kelley told the TV station that Braswell “slammed on her brakes, crammed it in reverse, and run over the median over there … and hit him in the back. I mean, he was runnin’, and she flat hit him.”

After Raines was transported to a nearby hospital, police said that he is expected to be fine as he only suffered a few minor injuries.

Raines has been charged with breaking and entering, larceny and misdemeanor damage to property, according to WLOS. The station also reported that Braswell claimed Raines broke her iPad and phone’s screens.

Braswell has also been charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.

According to a defense attorney, Braswell cannot claim self-defense because Raines was running away. But there won’t be any attempted murder charges because her actions weren’t premeditated.

“When something like that happens, rarely is the person who is the victim operating in a cool mind. They are very upset and angry,” Steve Lindsay told the station. “Once he gets the pocketbook and moves away, she is no longer in jeopardy.”

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