Police: Woman Dragged By Car After Fight With Purse Snatcher

JACKSON, N.J. (CBS) — Police arrested and charged a man accused of dragging a woman by a vehicle after an alleged robbery in New Jersey on early Saturday morning.

Nicholas Bonaccorso, 30, is charged with robbery, assault by auto, simple assault and theft.

Police said the incident happened around 12:45 a.m. in Jackson.

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Officers found a "distraught" and injured woman at the scene. Police say she told them she had just purchased lottery tickets from a store when a man grabbed her purse.

After struggling with the man over the item, police say the two fell to the ground, where the man struck the woman repeatedly in head and body. He eventually got the purse, got into a vehicle and attempted to leave the scene when the woman entered the passenger side of the vehicle in an effort to get her purse back.

Police say the man then struck the woman in the face and tried to push her out of the vehicle before accelerating and dragging the woman a short distance in the parking lot. The woman fell and the suspect fled the scene with stolen valuables worth more than $200, according to police.

Officers located Bonaccorso at a motel on Sunday evening and they arrested him.

He was processed and currently remains at Ocean County Jail.