An armed intruder barged into the Fort Worth home of an 82-year-old widow and stole the wedding ring off her finger.
JoAnn Britton said she was watching television when an armed woman entered her unlocked apartment. Her door was unlocked because she was expecting a neighbor.
"I turned on the TV and wham, about that time, the door came open," Britton said. "And she came in with a gun."
Fort Worth police released surveillance video of the robber Thursday and asked the public for help in identifying her.
"She said, 'Don't move,'" Britton said. "I looked at her and I said, "Huh-huh, I ain't moving.'"
The robber didn't find much cash, but something on Britton's hand caught her eye -- the wedding ring from her longtime husband, Donald, who died seven years ago.
"It was my engagement band and my wedding ring," the grandmother said. "I've worn them for years and years and never thought about taking them off when I took a bath or anything."
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"She pulled on them and hurt my fingers," Britton said. "She was trying to pull them off. They were kind of tight. And finally I just twisted them off like I'm doing that one, And I said, 'Here.'"
Britton stands 5 feet tall and weighs just 98 pounds -- no match for the much younger, stronger robber who was armed with a pistol.
"She was built like a wrestler," Britton said. ""Really, I was just so scared."
As if that wasn't enough, the cold-hearted bandit also took Britton's earrings right off her ears, the gold watch off her arm and other items from the jewelry box in her bedroom.
"I hope somebody catches her, I really do," she said.
She said she has recuperated from the robbery, which happened Aug. 27, and has learned to keep her door locked all the time.
