Wednesday, September 24, 2008 --- 2:10 p.m.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- It sounds like a reach -- but police say an elderly woman chased off a robber with a reacher. That's one of those gadgets with a claw-like device used grab things. Officers in Anne Arundel County say a man broke into a home shared by two elderly women.

He demanded money, but they said they did have any. According to police, as the man started to go through a purse, one of the women grabbed the reacher. Officers say she used it to chase him off, but he got away with a handbag.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)