OGDENSBURG – The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a robbery of an 80-year-old woman at a motel west of Ogdensburg Friday night.

After she and her 81-year-old husband, from the Rochester area, had checked in at the Stone Fence Motel, he had left the car they were in to find their room, they told investigating officers. Not long after, he heard his wife yelling and saw a male in his teens or early 20s running from the parking lot toward the St. Lawrence River shore.

The man chased him a short distance, then returned to find his wife on the ground. She told him she had fallen as she struggled with the man over her purse. She was not hurt, but the purse, described as a flower-patterned Vera Bradley, had been taken. She told investigators that the robber had threatened her with a two-foot club or pipe.

The robber is further described as slim, 5’5” to 5”10”, in dark pants, jacket and hat. A nearby witness heard a boat leave the general area, but it’s not known if there is any connection with the robbery.

Sheriff’s investigators are asking anyone who might know anything about the robbery to call them at 379-2222.