Norwegian police investigate string of robberies targeting elderly women

Police in southern Norway are probing a possible link between multiple robberies this week in which elderly women were accosted by occupants of a vehicle and stripped of jewelry, Dagbladet reports.

A woman in her 80s was held down and had her watch forcibly removed by individuals in a car outside a store in Agder shortly before 2 pm Friday, according to operations manager Eyvind Formo of Agder police district. The incident occurred in Olav Tryggvasons vei, and authorities have appealed for witness accounts or security footage from the area.

Police later detained two people—a man and a woman—in a vehicle connected to a second robbery in Arendal around 4:30 pm Friday. A third case under review took place in Arendal on Thursday.

The investigations follow a Tuesday report of a 70-year-old woman in Kolbotn, outside Oslo, who was robbed of a piece of jewelry valued at 80,000 kroner. “We are examining whether these incidents are connected,” said operations manager Jarl Bernhard Nilsen.

Authorities have urged anyone with information, including residential or dashcam footage, to come forward.