Man allegedly robs car while 7-month-old was inside

Great Falls police are asking for the public's help in locating a man who allegedly assaulted a shopper in the Albertsons grocery store parking lot Saturday, then robbed the woman's car while her 7-month-old baby was still inside.

According to Lieutenant Brian Black, the alleged assault and robbery took place shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday at a parking space adjacent to the Albertsons on 3rd Street in Northwest Great Falls.

"She was actually parked in front of the empty building south of Albertsons (toward Party America)," Black said of the precise spot where the assault and robbery allegedly occurred. "The place that turns into the Halloween Store."

Black said the victim had just finished shopping with her daughter, and had secured the little girl in her car seat and put her groceries inside when she realized she had dropped her keys near the car's rear bumper.

"She reached down to pick up her keys, when she was hit in the right shoulder area and knocked to the ground," Black said.

The woman described her assailant as a Native American man in his 20s, roughly six feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, wearing jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball cap.

"She did not get a good description because she primarily saw just the back of his head," Black said. "The male jumped into her car. She started screaming because she was afraid he might take off with her daughter in the car. He got out and ran away, but not until he'd grabbed some cash and cigarettes that were sitting in the console area."

The female victim suffered only a sore shoulder that did not require medical treatment. Her seven-month-old daughter was unharmed.

Black said Albertsons' parking lot surveillance cameras do not have video coverage extending to the area where the assault and robbery took place.

"There are no other known suspects or witnesses," he said, "but the victim did state that she thought a vehicle drove by during the altercation, but it did not stop. Perhaps somebody witnessed it and perhaps they didn't."

Anyone who believes they may have information regarding this crime is encouraged to call Great Falls police at 727-7688.