AN ELDERLY woman was told to "keep quiet" by a man who claimed he had a knife as he robbed her.
The 84-year-old victim was attacked in Thirsk's Millgate car park at about 11.30am, on Thursday, when she got out of her car while on her way to a dental appointment.
Her attacker asked her for directions before bending down and pulling her bag out of the footwell.
The woman then struggled to hold on to the bag before the robber wrenched it out of her grasp.
He then stood and rifled through the contents, taking cash, while warning the pensioner to "keep quiet" because he "had a knife".
He threw the bag into the car and ran off. The woman was left "extremely shaken" by her ordeal.
The attacker is described as clean, tidy and quite well-spoken, He is white, about 5ft 8in tall, of average build.
Police believe he is in his 20s, clean-shaven except for a dark moustache. He was wearing a dark baseball cap, a blue waist-length jacket and blue jeans.
The pensioner said her assailant "seemed respectable".
Anyone who witnessed the attack, or has any information about it, is asked to contact Northallerton CID on 01609 789455.
The attack comes only a week after an 81-year-old Thirsk man was punched in the face and tied up by four men who robbed him at his home.
Updated: 11:57 Saturday, November 02, 2002
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