TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fatal Purse-Snatching Victim Fought Back, Friend Says

News Channel 8 photo by ERIC HAUSMANN

Linda Rose Roma of Hudson was shopping at TJ Maxx, 12209 U.S. 19, at about 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man snatched her purse, deputies say.

ADVERTISEMENT

By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: November 13, 2008

Updated: 11/14/2008 08:33 pm

Related Links

• Robbery Turns Fatal
• Surveillance Video Of Suspects
• Photo Gallery

  Linda Roma

HUDSON - Linda Roma's life had purpose.

She took care of her husband of 41 years as he battled several illnesses. She became a rock of support for her 33-year-old daughter, Jennifer, with whom she spent hours talking on the porch, shopping and drinking coffee.

Those roles ended abruptly this week when a common crime - purse-snatching - reached a deadly conclusion.

The Roma women had just finished a mother-daughter shopping trip Wednesday night at the TJ Maxx on U.S. 19 when a man walked up to Linda Roma in the parking lot and grabbed her purse. She was thrown down during the struggle, striking her head on the ground.

Roma, 62, was taken to a local hospital, where she died Thursday.

Her death was particularly jarring because it happened during a crime that rarely results in serious injury, much less a fatality. Police each year increase patrols at local malls and shopping centers and broadcast warnings about personal safety as the holiday shopping season gets under way, but local authorities could not remember the last time someone died in such a way.

"This is a tragedy,'' Pasco County Sheriff Bob White said. "What probably would have been a purse-snatching or a strong-arm robbery turned into a family that's missing their mother.''

Roma's death left family and friends struggling for answers on how a simple shopping trip could end in tragedy. Early today, Lerenda Hans visited the parking lot where her friend of 20 years had died.

"I just don't know if the economy is turning people into evil," she said. "I just don't know what's going on."

Today, Jennifer Roma stood before a throng of cameras inside the Pasco County Sheriff's Office to ask for the public's help in finding the people responsible for her mother's death.

"I have lost a piece of my life that can never be replaced," she said, sobbing heavily. "My mother was my rock."

Jennifer Roma's quick thinking has helped investigators generate a key lead. After the attack, the man ran to a grayish Buick Regal and jumped into the passenger side. Although she was stunned, the daughter had the presence of mind to run to the car and look inside before it drove away.

What she saw was a man between 25 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and about 160 pounds. The driver was a woman between 25 and 30 years old with long brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes.

The sheriff's office released surveillance footage showing a couple matching that description entering a nearby Wal-Mart about an hour after the attack and attempting to use Linda Roma's credit cards. A bald black man wearing a white shirt was with them.

Detective Lisa Schoneman said investigators are trying to determine the identities of the people in the video. She said the black man is not considered a suspect and may not even have known what happened at the TJ Maxx.

"I'm hoping he'll hear this and come forward," she said.

Jennifer Roma said she saw the man loitering outside the store as she walked out and looked directly at him. She said he ignored her and went straight to her mother.

Ten seconds later, Linda Roma lay on the ground unconscious.

"She's gone and I'm never going to get her back," said Jennifer Roma, who recently had bought a house with her fiance less than 2 miles from her mother's home. "I'm angry."

Anyone with information can call Schoneman at 1-800-854-2862, Ext. 7473.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084. Reporters Russell Ray, Josh Poltilove, Rod Challenger and Natalie Shepherd contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT