A bride-to-be had a £6,500 gold necklace snatched on a Birmingham street moments after she bought it for her wedding.
The victim, 25, and her mum were targeted after leaving Gold City Jewellers in Stratford Road, Sparkhill.
They had travelled to Birmingham from their Bristol home for a day of shopping. The brazen thief first snatched a bag of clothes the pair had bought.
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But he returned within seconds for the jewellery, a wedding present from the bride's parents, after realising his mistake.
The victim, a Ministry of Defence engineer who would not be named, was hurt as she grappled with the crook and had to take a fortnight off work.
But she told BirminghamLive she "felt sorry" for the criminal. She said: "If I'm honest, I don't really harbour ill thoughts towards them.
"I feel sorry for them. You can't have had a good life if you have to do that to live. You can't have had people who care about you and have a life like that."
Recalling the hold-up, which happened at around 3.30pm on Saturday, July 5, she said: "It was peak wedding season and we were looking around a few shops - it was only afterwards that my mum realised someone had been watching us.
"The gold was in a red, plastic bag. We also had some clothes in another bag. At first the man grabbed the bag with the clothes in. Then there was a bit of a struggle and he got the bag with the necklace in.
"He got into a waiting small, black car with another person driving and they drove off."
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The victim said she and her mum had been in Birmingham for a couple of hours when the theft happened. She said a lot of South Asian people travelled to London or Birmingham to buy gold jewellery for weddings.
But she said she did not realise until she arrived that the area was 'rough'. The bride-to-be said: "The necklace was supposed to be a gift from my parents.
"But after buying it I had quite a struggle before he snatched the bag and it left me with a back injury.
"I had to take two weeks off work. He ran away and it was busy. An Uber delivery guy on a bike tried to stop him but was pushed off his bike.
"I felt someone could have stopped him because it was busy but people don't like to get involved.
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"I had to take two weeks off work. He ran away and it was busy. An Uber delivery guy on a bike tried to stop him but was pushed off his bike.
"I felt someone could have stopped him because it was busy but people don't like to get involved. Because I am not really from an area like that, I wouldn't think something like that could happen.
"I didn't anticipate how rough that area was."
She continued: "My mum had done a gold swap and paid money as well - the cost was £6,500.
"We called the police straight away and they came in five minutes. They took statements and went into the shop we bought the necklace from.
"They asked us to go in and the police were shown the CCTV footage which showed the whole thing."
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She described the robber as wearing a 'grey hoodie, being quite slim and around 5ft 10ins'. She said he was 'definitely South Asian'.
And she said the robbery had a lasting effect on her and her mum. She said: "It's made me very paranoid.
"Even though I live in a nice and safe area of Bristol, I feel really scared because of what happened when leaving the house.
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"It's especially at night. I used to go to the gym at night but I only go in the day now. When I see someone in a hoodie I feel paranoid.
"I also don't wear watches or gold now. My mum is in her 60s and she's been a lot more scared than me.
"Now we don't really keep any gold in the house and she doesn't leave the house after sunset.
"She used to really enjoy gold shopping and saw it as an investment but she doesn't now."
The police told the victim there were no other gold theft incidents in the area at the time. West Midlands Police released an image of a man officers would like to speak to in connection with the incident.
A spokesperson said: "We need your help to identify this man following a robbery in Balsall Heath.
"At around 3.30pm on Saturday, July 5, a woman had her handbag snatched after a trip to a jewellery shop on Stratford Road.
"If you can name the man in the CCTV, call us now on 101 quoting reference number: 20/298973/25.
"You can also share your information with the Crimestoppers charity. They'll never ask your name or trace your call and you may be entitled to a cash reward. Call them now on 0800 555 111."