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The Vancouver Police Department is reminding people to be aware of distraction-style thefts after three men were arrested after attempting to rob an 86-year-old woman last week.

It happened next to a bank on Granville Street and West 12th Avenue on September 18. The woman left the bank after making a transaction and opened her car. It was then that a man approached and told her that she dropped some cash on the ground.

As the woman picked up the cash and was distracted by the first man, a second man took her purse from the seat of her car.

It was then the two men quickly left, getting into a waiting car driven by a third man.

However, police had been following the trio.

“They came to our attention, and we felt they deserved some extra police attention, so it didn’t take us too long to apprehend them,” said VPD Cst. Brian Montague.

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The three men arrested and charged are Adolfo Morella, 57, Eloy Figueroa-Valdes, 60, and Hector Paredes, 67.

“These aren’t kids making poor choices, these are individuals that have no compassion,” said Montague.

“They targeted an 86-year-old woman, these are three people with a broken moral compass.”

The VPD are reminding people to be aware of their surroundings when leaving a bank or currency exchange, and to contact police if observing anything suspicious. They say this style of theft is fairly commonplace.

“Its’not a new type of crime. Individuals who commit this type of crime know it is a bit of specialty, there is a bit of an art to it. They become good at their craft,” said Houghton.

The trio’s next court appearance is on October 13.