Video shows thief steal woman's purse in broad daylight at Temecula gas station

TEMECULA, Calif. (KABC) -- Surveillance video captures a brazen and fast-moving thief steal a woman's purse from her car in Temecula.

The victim now wants to warn people to be more vigilant since the crime was done in broad daylight at a gas station.

In the video, the thief gets out of a car on the right side of your screen, walks up to the victim's truck, opens the passenger side door, grabs her purse, slowly closes the door and then scurries back to his car.

The victim, Amber Winbury, said she didn't even realize it had happened until someone else came up to her and told her they believed someone stole something from her car.

"I was in shock, honestly. It made me really upset that just somebody would want to do that, let alone do it to a female who's just there by herself," she said.

Winbury filed a police report. The incident happened at a gas station at Temecula Parkway and Pechanga Parkway. Winbury said there isn't much to go on because the guy appeared to use some kind of cloth to keep from leaving any fingerprints on the truck.

She said the car, which appears to be a dark green Toyota Camry, had its plates covered.

Winbury said there are a couple of things both she and others should take from the crime.

"Honestly, be more aware. That's what I learned from this. It can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone," she said.

Winbury said her wallet was somewhere else so the guy did not get away with much, just a cellphone charger, pocket knife and some medicine. But she said that's not the point.

"He didn't get something really important, but he still had the nerve to go after something that he could have. He could have gotten my identity. That's broad daylight. It was 11 o'clock in the morning, pretty much. It was just really scary," she said.