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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS -- A single mother is hoping to get back her money after she had $1,100 stolen from her purse while shopping with her two children. Surveillance cameras show another woman with a young child taking her purse from her shopping cart.
Megan Danner is a single mother from Provo, working 15-hour days to take care of her two small children.
"I have been working like crazy. In the last two weeks I picked up an extra job," she said.
Danner says she had just cashed her paycheck and was about to go shopping at the Target store in Cottonwood Heights. She became distracted trying to control her kids -- ages 5 and 3 -- and didn't notice someone take her purse from her cart.
The purse was later found inside the store by a woman. By then, the cash was gone. The woman said she did not steal the purse or the money, and instead took it to Target managers.
Police say surveillance cameras show a woman with a small child, about 4 years old, take the purse from Danner's cart. She says the incident left her in tears.
"I've got two small kids that I'm working so hard for, and I just felt desperate," she said. "I feel like I'm back at square one, with the crappy car and the mess that goes on with being a parent."
Danner says she's trying to teach her children not to steal, and says she was really disappointed to learn that another parent stole from her.
"To hear that another woman with her child was on the other end desperate enough to set a really poor example that way to her kid made me sick," she said.
The cash may not be much to some, but it's a lot for Danner. She just hopes that whoever took the money has a change of heart and returns it.
"But we still get up and we do what we've got to do to make things work," she said.
Police say Target is trying to see if there's any other video of the woman in the store that would help them with this case. They say because of the amount of money involved, the theft is a felony.
Police remind people to keep an eye on their valuables because there are people out looking for opportunities like this.
Danner says she will definitely be more protective from now on.
