Woman Narrowly Escapes Robber Armed with Knife

A woman narrowly escaped an armed robbery suspect outside of the Giant Food grocery store Friday, Manassas City Police said. 

It happened Friday, April 8 at 2:40 p.m. That's when a 48-year-old woman was in the parking lot of the grocery store, located at the intersection of Centreville Road and Liberia Ave. She was loading groceries into her car when she was approached by a Hispanic male asking for directions, police said. 

The female victim offered to give the man a ride because it was raining. But when  he got into the vehicle and the victim started to pull away, the suspect pulled out a knife demanding money.

He told the victim to pull behind the shopping center, but the victim quickly put the car in park, jumped out and started screaming, police said.

Two witnesses who heard her cry for help chased the suspect behind the shopping center between the IHOP and Super 8 motel near Centreville Road before they lost him. No further suspect information was given.

The Manassas City Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in these cases.  The confidential 24-hour tip line is (703) 330-0330.