ROBBERY SUSPECT HITS WOMEN WITH CAR, STEALS PURSE.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

The city's special holiday shopping patrol has arrested another robbery suspect, an ex-convict who deputies say hit two women with his car, then punched one in the head and snatched her purse.

Two deputies patrolling the Valley Central shopping center parking lot Thursday evening were flagged down by a resident, followed the fleeing vehicle until it crashed and then chased the robbery suspect on foot.

``He obviously thought about running, and then he stopped and laid down on the ground,'' said Deputy Tania Bower. ``He only got a short distance away.''

Dwayne Thedford, 29, of Pacoima was being held Friday at the Lancaster sheriff's station on a no-bail warrant on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Deputies said the charge could count as Thedford's third under the state ``three strikes, you're out'' law.

Victims Chooi Haynes, 41, and Joyce Razo, 45, both of Lancaster, were taken to Antelope Valley Hospital after the 7 p.m. incident.

Haynes was treated for multiple bruises and a possible spinal fracture, and Razo was treated for jaw and leg bruises and cuts on her lip and chin. Both victims have since been released.

Officials said Razo told them she and Haynes were standing and talking next to Razo's van when a car came down the parking aisle.

``He swayed wide as if he was going to park in an empty space next to them,'' Bower said. ``Then she heard the car accelerate, and saw the car coming directly toward them. She tried to get her friend out of the way.''

Although Razo pulled Haynes toward her, both women were hit. Haynes was thrown about 10 feet, and Razo was pushed back into her van.

The driver then got out of his car and punched Haynes in the head.

``He told her to give him her purse or that he was going to kill her,'' Bower said.

As the man drove off in his car, in which there were three other people, Deputies Jeff Larson and Chris Keeling were flagged down by a woman yelling, ``Hey, hey, that car over there!'' They saw a beige Chrysler Cordoba speeding out of the parking lot.

With the patrol car behind him, the Chrysler's driver threw a purse out the window, then lost control of his car on the damp pavement and crashed into a curb.

The driver ran, then realized deputies were close behind him and laid on the ground.

Officials said Thedford's passengers were not involved in the crime and were released.

The purse-snatching incident was the second robbery foiled this week by deputies on Lancaster's special patrol of shopping centers for the holiday season.

On Wednesday, Keeling and Sgt. Darrel Brown were handing out crime-prevention fliers to businesses when they heard a police radio report of a robbery at a nearby credit union office. They arrested two teen-agers who had fled in a stolen sport-utility vehicle and then had run into a house, and a third teen was arrested later.