Mugging ‘was such a shock’

An 81-year-old Olympia woman, in town to get away from the West Side’s gray skies, ended up in the hospital for the first time in her life after being mugged in Riverfront Park.

“All the sudden I felt a yank,” Alvena E. Eales said Thursday. “He took my purse and shoved me down.”

Eales was taken to a Spokane hospital Wednesday where she was admitted into intensive care. But the woman was resilient, and was released Thursday, a day after the robbery.

Spokane police Sgt. Joe Peterson said a violent crime against an elderly woman often scars deeper than the skin.

“The woman may recover physically, but she won’t recover emotionally,” he said. “The real crime is that person has stolen this woman’s security for the remaining years of her life. That’s the real shame.”

Eales was mugged about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday as she walked with a friend near the YMCA in Riverfront Park. The mugger remains at large, police said. Eales suffered a broken nose and scrapes and bruises to her face, knees and elbows, she said.

Eales came to Spokane this week to enjoy some sunshine, she said. She and a friend had visited the Davenport Hotel before heading to Riverfront Park. They watched the ducks and geese and were on their way to see Spokane Falls when she was robbed.

“He came from behind. I didn’t see him. It was such a shock,” said Eales, who was a reporter during her high school days. “I’ve been in Seattle in parks where there were bums sleeping all around and never thought anything about it.”

Craig Butz, recreation and entertainment manager for Spokane’s Parks and Recreation Department, said muggings in the park are rare. “This was extremely unfortunate,” he said.

Other than vandalism and some pockets in the park where there’s drug activity, there’s not much crime in Riverfront Park, Butz said.

Spokane police confirmed crime is limited in the 100-acre park.

After being released from the hospital, Eales went back to her hotel. She was fretting about getting home, because she didn’t have keys to get into her home or her garage door opener. “The money doesn’t really matter,” she said.

But the good news is Spokane detectives found Eales’ purse, with all its contents including about $200 cash, said Spokane police Detective Kip Hollenbeck.

It was found near a fence by the Spokane Falls.

Detectives think the mugger got spooked and dropped the purse, Hollenbeck said.

No one saw the mugger’s face, but one witness did see him running from the park, Hollenbeck said.

He’s described as white, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall, and 180 to 220 pounds.

He was in his late 20s to early 30s, with curly dark blond hair down to his shoulders.

He wore khaki shorts and a dark-colored shirt.

“There are no good witnesses to this,” Peterson said. “But we’ll catch him.”