A woman was knocked to the ground and her purse was stolen as she was walking to her apartment in the Pecan Grove area Wednesday night.

The 51-year-old woman told sheriff's investigators she had parked her car at the South Grand Apartments in the 2400 block of Old South Drive and was walking on a sidewalk when the incident took place at about 10:45 p.m.

Fort Bend County Sheriff's spokeswoman Terriann Carlson said a man came up and grabbed the woman from behind and tried to take her purse. He ended up shoving her to the ground and was able to get her purse and run away.

The woman reported that she had seen the man standing between two of the buildings right before the attack.

"She assumed he lived there," Carlson said.

The woman suffered an abrasion to her elbow, but otherwise was not seriously injured.

The man is described as having light, fair skin and curly hair, but since it was dark, the woman was not able to give a more detailed description of her attacker.