Mother Attacked In Broad Daylight At OKC Outlet Mall

A young mother is attacked while shopping with her young son. She says a man ambushed her, choked her, and tried to steal her money. But she fought back.

The young mother says the attack happened in the parking lot, in broad daylight, with shoppers and security nearby. But she says that did little to deter this would-be thief.

Kate Cowen says she was just trying to get her 2-year-old child in the backseat of her car when a man approached her and asked her for her phone. Then he attacked her.

"He came over here and he had me like this choking me against the car seat and I was just trying to kick him as hard as I could just anything to get him off of me," said Cowen.

Cowen says he did this all happened in front of her young son, with plenty of shoppers nearby. She even parked near the front.

"I think he saw me as an easy target, you know, I'm a mother, I was distracted with [my son] Jayce. But he was wrong," Cowen said.

That's because she fought back, screaming and clawing to keep him away from her and her son.

"He's my baby, so I gotta protect my baby."

Cowen says she kept screaming until other shoppers took notice.

"When he finally realized I wasn't going to give up, he started running and I just kept screaming as loud as I could until people came over there to try to help me."

Cowen says the would-be robber managed to get away, but not before leaving evidence behind.

"He left his hat in the backseat of my car so they've got his DNA."

The Outlet Mall management says they do take all necessary precautions to protect their customers and staff, but sometimes things like this happen.

"We employee a full-time security staff as well as work with local law enforcement on a daily basis," said general manager of the Outlet Shoppes, Debbie Griesinger.

Now Cowen is warning shoppers to be on the lookout, especially during this busy tax-free weekend.

"You just don't expect things like that to happen to you gotta be aware of your surroundings," Cowen said.

And it's ironic but the robber got so flustered, he never even grabbed Cowen's wallet. But she says it wouldn't have done him any good since she never carries cash.