Sheriff’s deputies are investigating two attempted strong-arm robberies in Yucca Valley Monday afternoon. About 4:30 p.m., a woman was walking in the 56600 block of Antelope Trail when a man came up behind her, pulled her to the ground by her hair, and tried to grab her purse. The woman told police she was on her back with her purse clutched between her legs while the man stood over her and punched her in her head and face while trying to pull the purse away from her. The woman scared off her attacker by screaming and yelling for help. The woman sustained cuts inside her mouth, a bloody lip, bruising around her eye, and several large knots on her head. About a half hour later in the 58000 block of 29 Palms Highway, another woman reported that she was also assaulted as a man tried unsuccessfully to grab her purse. The man is described as a dark-skinned man wearing a black shirt and dark colored pants. Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Department at 760-366-4175.
