TERRIFYING AMBUSH
Grandma cancer patient, 78, ‘suffered HEART ATTACK after she was pepper-sprayed and beaten by 3 women in carjacking’
A GRANDMOTHER battling cancer suffered a heart attack after she was beaten, pepper sprayed and carjacked by three people, police say.
Angelina Bellissima, 78, was stalked by three younger women in South Philadelphia last week.
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According to , the callous trio followed her for two blocks before attacking her on 2700 block of South Smedley Street.
Bellissima, who is undergoing cancer radiation, had just finished unloading groceries at her daughter's house when she went to park the car.
She said: "I went to check my tire and they just came behind me and they pepper-sprayed my whole face and then they pushed me down on the ground."
After they beat and pepper sprayed the pensioner and left her injured on the ground, the suspects jumped into her car and fled the scene,
After the moment was caught on CCTV footage, police are currently analysing footage to identify and track down the suspects.
Bellissima's daughter, Angela Palumbo, recalled the moment she was phoned by her terrified mother.
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She said: "My phone rings and she's screaming 'help me! help me!' she's crying 'I can't see! I can't see! I was attacked!'"
"It’s out of control, something needs to be done," Anthony Giordano from Stand Up South Philadelphia said. "Law and order needs to stand tall. The criminals are not afraid to attack people in the middle of the day."
Bellissima says the attack has left her scared, adding: "I'm 78-years-old, I can't take a blow like that, I could have had a brain injury.
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They didn't care about me, I wouldn't care about them."
The Philadelphia Police Department say carjackings have jumped in the city since the start of 2021.
As of Tuesday morning, the city reported nearly 60 vehicle robberies - while in 2020, there were over 400 carjacking incidents.
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