Mom run over while trying to stop man from stealing Girl Scout cookie money

WASHINGTON (WJLA) – A Washington, D.C., mother of triplets says a man stole at least $1,500 of her daughters’ Girl Scout cookie money and ran her over with a stolen car when she tried to stop him.

Traci Brown and two of her 7-year-old triplets were in front of their home selling Girl Scout cookies to passersby Monday afternoon when two customers offered large bills. Brown got them change from a money bag and stashed it in her minivan.

She was dealing with one of her daughters when a helper suddenly yelled that a man was stealing the money.

“I turned around and was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ So, I tried to grab him by his dreadlocks, and they slipped out of my hands. So, I ran around the front of my car and tried to, unfortunately, foolishly, take the money from him,” Brown said.

Brown was wrestling with the man, trying to get the money back when he knocked her down. She says he then ran her over to make his getaway.

Fortunately, she was not seriously injured.

“The kids shouldn’t be seeing stuff like that, and no one should be stealing from the Girl Scouts. This is a charitable organization. It’s not even me or my money,” she said.

Brown says there was at least $1,500 in the stolen money bag. It had that much money because she hadn’t been able to turn it in to the Girl Scouts representative at church.

She says this was a hard lesson, and she should have locked her minivan.

It’s unclear what happened to the thief. Brown says when she reported the tag number to police, they told her the white Hyundai had been stolen minutes earlier after its driver left it running outside a convenience store.