Woman attacked during grocery run

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A trip to the store to get diapers ended in a strong-armed attack.

"For a minute, I didn't think I was going to be okay," the victim, who asked not to be identified, told 24 Hour News 8.

The 27-year-old Grand Rapids woman went to the Walgreens on Grand Rapids' northwest side Wednesday morning around 10 a.m. She needed diapers for her 18-month-old.

"I was in there less than five minutes," she said.

In the parking lot after shopping, another woman asked the victim for directions.

When the victim turned her back, she said, the other woman attacked her.

"I thought she was going to try and kill me. It was that scary," the victim said.

She said the attacker bit her and tried to choke her while trying to get into her truck.

"I wasn't letting of my keys," the victim said.

Two witnesses broke up the attack and police caught the suspect hours later.

"You have to be aware of your surroundings," said Dwayne Flees, a martial arts instructor at Flees ATA Martial Arts.

Flees said that if something does seem right, you shouldn't answer a stranger's questions.

"You're not obligated to talk to them," said Flees.

But, he said, if you do speak to a stranger, be confident and look the stranger straight in the eye.

"The bad guy doesn't want you to know what they look like," he explained.

The victim told 24 Hour News 8 she should have trusted her instincts and stayed away from the woman.

"That's their way to distract you, and once they distract you, that's when they attack," the victim said. "It's not fair for people like us that aren't like this."