Woman punches man during attempted robbery

A woman punched a man in the face after he tried to take her backpack Friday, police said.

The 47-year-old woman reported to police at about 2:30 p.m. she was walking on a gravel road east of the B-Line Trail, near the 200 block of West Grimes Lane, when two men approached her, said Sgt. Ian Lovan of the Bloomington Police Department.

She said one of the men asked her for cigarettes, Lovan said.  The other man then tried to take her backpack, but was unsuccessful. The woman punched that man in the face, then she ran away, Lovan said.

The victim said the white man who asked her for cigarettes wore an orange shirt with a white No. 12 and camouflage shorts, had a long beard, had a medium build and appeared to be 5-foot-9, 50 to 60 years old.

The victim said the white man who tried to take her backpack was wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, had short brown hair, a long beard and appeared to be about 50 years old.

— Matt Stefanski