Police in Nashville are hunting a callous thief who was caught on surveillance cameras stopping robbing a 70-year-old woman in a church parking lot after stopping to ask her for directions.

Heartbreaking video of the theft shows the man, who has been named by police as 48-year-old Gilbert D. Ostring, Jr., pull up alongside the unsuspecting woman at Lebanon Church of Christ at midday on Tuesday.

As he slowed his Dodge truck down, the woman stopped and looked at him, unsure of whether or not she could carry on walking towards her car.

The elderly woman was walking to her car in the parking lot of the Lebanon Church of Christ in Nashville on Tuesday when the man approached her in his Dodge truck and asked if she knew where nearby shelters were

After beckoning her closer, he grabbed the purse slung over her arm and tugged it away from her

He then beckoned her to come closer to the vehicle and engaged her in conversation.

Nashville Police say Ostring then asked the woman if she knew the location of any shelters nearby.

As she spoke with him, he reached his hand out and grabbed the small purse slung around her wrist.

The woman tried to put up a fight but as Ostring tugged at the bag, he drew her closer towards the car.

As the man drove away, the woman tried to hold on to the bag and was dragged off her feet

She let the purse go but lost her footing and began to topple over, face first, as he drove away

With the man still in view, she fell on the ground, trying to put her hands out in front of her to break her fall

The elderly woman broke bones in her hand and suffered facial bruising as the callous thief drove off

With it firmly in his grap, he sped off, leaving the woman to lose her balance and fall face first on the hard parking lot turf.

She lay helpless on the ground for several seconds as he drove away then gathered herself onto her hands and knees.

The woman was pictured wiping her face off and sitting on the ground, looking around.

She suffered facial injuries and broke several bones in her hand when she fell.

Now, police in Nashville are determined to find Ostring who has a history of targeting vulnerable, elderly women.