EL CERRITO, Calif. —
El Cerrito police are looking for a man they say violently attacked an elderly woman before stealing her car outside a drugstore Sunday.
The 89-year-old victim was hospitalized but is said to be improving and in good condition.
Police say on Sunday Terrance James Hardy, 28, approached the woman as she was getting into her car after leaving a CVS store on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito.
"That's the suspect driving the car away," said Lt. Robert De La Campa with San Pablo Police as he showed KTVU surveillance video of the victim's car, a white 1992 Toyota Camry moments after the carjacking.
What the video didn’t show was the vicious attack just before Hardy stole the victim's purse and drove away in her car.
"He punched her. He literally pulled her from her car causing her some serious injuries," said Lt. De La Campa.
The woman, who uses a walker, had just purchased medication from the CVS pharmacy and had just got into her car, parked right by the store’s front door when Hardy attacked her.
A friend who visited the victim Tuesday tells KTVU what happened.
"This man punched her in the face so she flew for so many feet. She came down and that's when she broke her ribs and the clavicle," said Ted, the man declined to give his last name.
Police say a witness description helped them identify the attacker as 28-year-old Hardy of Oakland. They say he is a parolee.
"They could have picked her up and set her aside and taken the car, why knock her down? Why punch her? Why do that, “said Mary Nordahl, a friend of the victim's.
"I think it's terrible. Why would somebody do that? You don't want to know what i think they are. They're punks," said David Nordahl, who is also friends with the elderly woman.
The Nordahls, a married couple tell KTVU they've known the victim for decades.
They say she is just over five feet tall and weighs less than 100 pounds
"A lovely woman, just a lovely woman. And it just has all of us really upset," said Mary Nordahl.
Police say it appears that Hardy acted alone.
He is described as five feet seven and weighs about 170 pounds.
While Hardy is not believed to be armed, he is considered dangerous.
Police say if anyone sees him to not approach him and call their local police department.
