Woman Attacked At Mall Offers Advice

Adrianna Iwasinski, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kathleen Grizzle says she still has nightmares about the day last February when she went to Quail Springs Mall and was attacked in broad daylight in the parking lot.

"I never would have dreamed it would have happened. Never would have dreamed in all my life that anything like this would happen."

Memories of that day cannot be erased.

"To me, it's every woman's worst nightmare! I mean, to be abducted, to have someone try to take you. It's very, very frightening. It's something you see on TV, but you don't think will happen to you. Well, it did happen to me!"

Grizzle was able to escape, but her attackers took her car, purse and wedding rings. Thanks to some quick police work, officers alerted local pawn shops and were able to catch the thieves trying to pawn the rings just a couple of miles away.

Now, Grizzle says, she just wants to warn others.

"If he says don't scream, you scream! You scream. You scream as loud and hard as you possibly can and don't let him take you away!"

She also wants malls and shopping centers to better equip themselves to help keep their shoppers safe and to scare away potential thieves.

She says surveillance cameras and patrols are not enough.

"There are a number of measures that can be taken to reduce the incidence of this kind of crime from happening, because I think they will continue to happen if we don't take action now and do something about it."

Grizzle says she no longer shops alone and suggests others should do the same and always take someone else with them.