Caught on Cam: Robber Snatches Woman's Chain on SEPTA Bus

Police are on the hunt for a man caught on surveillance video robbing a woman on a SEPTA bus.

Verna Void, 57, says she was on her way to get treatment for skin cancer back on June 12 and boarded a SEPTA route 38 bus. As the bus stopped at Broad and Chestnut Streets, police say a man who was sitting behind the woman got up to leave. As he exited the bus, the man snatched Void’s gold chain and cross from her neck and fled the bus on foot.

"I was just minding my own business and he just reached over," she said. "He ripped it off my neck."

Void suffered a laceration on her neck due to the chain snatching. She says her injury required extra care since there was concern it could exacerbate her skin cancer.

"It was so traumatic to me that he did that and the fact that I have this condition," Void said. "I had to go to the doctor." 

Void also says the stolen chain and cross are particularly meaningful to her because they were the only things she had left from her child’s father who died last year. She says she wore the chain for more than 30 years.

Credit: Philadelphia Police

The suspect is described as a thin, dark skinned male with a thin goatee standing between 5-foot-11 and 6-foot-1. Police also say he was wearing a black Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap, a dark blue t-shirt with a Nike logo on the front and dark-colored shorts.

"He assaulted me as far as I'm concerned," Void said. "I hope they catch him." 

If you have any information on this theft, please call Philadelphia Police.

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