Sunrise Police are looking for a man who stole a gold chain from around a woman's neck at Sawgrass Mills Mall.
It happened on Sunday around 5:30 p.m. in the Burlington Coat factory parking garage.
According to police, the man tried ripping an 18 karat gold chain with a crucifix pendant from a woman's neck as she walked to her car. The woman, Angie Barnaby, told Local 10's Baron James, that the man grabbed her necklace and kept yanking it.
"He wouldn't stop...I felt like I was being choked from behind," Barnaby said.
That necklace was a gift from her husband 15 years ago.
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The crime was caught on camera. The man seems to come out of nowhere and attacks Barnaby, who remained relatively calm even though the $350 chain didn't immediately come off.
"I said, 'this isn't the way' and he said to me, 'sorry, ma'am, I'm just trying to get clothes for school,'" said Barnaby. "I turned around and I said 'let it go, I'll give it to you' because it wouldn't pop. He let go and I proceeded to take off."
Barnaby said she was afraid the man may hurt her.
"I didn't know if he had a gun. I didn't know what he had. I didn't want to find out. I didn't want to fight and I didn't want him to hurt me. I'm just glad I was able to go home to my family and that my children weren't with me," said Barnaby.
Surveillance cameras inside Nordstrom showed the man inside the store a few minutes before he robbed her.
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Police said the man returned to the mall after the robbery trying to sell the necklace.
The man is described as being between 18 and 20 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 to 165 pounds, having a thin build and a short afro. He was last seen wearing a black polo shirt, black jean shorts, and black sneakers with white socks.
Anyone with information on the robbery should call Sunrise Police at 954-746-3600.
