Elderly Woman's Mugging After Bible Study Caught on Video

By Janna Dela Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, May 08, 2018

A 70-year-old woman in Nashville was preparing to head home after a bible study session when she was mugged in a parking lot.

The crime was captured on surveillance cameras installed near the Lebanon Road Church of Christ. The footage, which was released online, shows that the mugger pretended to have a question to the unsuspecting woman about nearby shelters.

In the video, the mugger who was later identified as 48-year-old Gilbert D. Ostring Jr. pulled up the Dodge 1500 pickup truck he was driving near the woman and asked her a question so that she can lure her to the window.

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Although hesitant, she ultimately approached the driver in order to help him. Ostring wasted no time and ripped the purse out of her hands before speeding away, leaving the old woman falling face first onto the asphalt. She is seen struggling, but the mugger paid no attention to her and focused on escaping with the purse.

In turn, the elderly victim, who put up a fight to no avail, broke bones in her right hand and suffered facial injuries. All this was caught on video, which broke the hearts of people online.

Concerned netizens took to social media to express their frustration, hoping that Ostring is captured as soon as possible. Some went so far as to call him "a piece of garbage" and one who "has no morals whatsoever."

"Here's something that should never happen, much less to a female senior citizen leaving a church Bible study," the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a statement along with a photo of Ostring to help citizens to identify him.

The woman, whose name is being kept under wraps, is hardly Ostring's first victim. It turns out that he has been behind bars for several crimes including robbery.

According to the authorities, the mugger had to do time for other crimes, namely theft, forgery, identity theft, fraudulent use of credit cards, and reckless aggravated assault. He got out of prison just last June.

The police have yet to locate Ostring, but they believe he is still driving the same Dodge pickup truck, which has a Tennessee license number 8K76T3.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is advised to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.