REGINA -- A Regina woman is holding her 10 year-old daughter a little closer, after she says the two were robbed at knifepoint in the Costco parking lot on Monday.

Jessica Brown, her mother and her daughter, Nyla, were leaving Costco after getting groceries. Brown’s mother went to her own vehicle, and Brown and Nyla walked to their car. The two were were just about to unload their groceries into their car, when Brown said a young woman approached them.

“Both me and my daughter kind of still had my purse together. [The woman] had a knife with a green handle and [she] said, ‘Give me your effing purse. I have a knife,’” said Brown.

Brown said the woman grabbed at the purse and at Nyla’s jacket sleeve. Brown then grabbed Nyla’s hand, and pushed Nyla behind her.

“I grabbed my purse and said, ‘Eff no, you’re not taking my purse,’” said Brown. “I barrelled with her kind of back and forth for about two seconds. My purse broke, but I had it, so I (threw) my purse behind me.”

Brown said the woman managed to get ahold of her car keys and took off with them. Brown’s mother heard the commotion, and told the woman to give her the keys. Brown said the woman then dropped the keys and ran.

“At that point I told my mother to stay with my daughter, I am going to follow her,” said Brown. “So, I put on my video camera on my phone, I phoned 911 and I followed her on foot pursuit, just around the Costco parking lot.”

Brown said she followed the woman from a distance for about 20 minutes, until police arrived and took the woman into custody.

“It was terrifying. But the most terrifying part was my daughter in front of me, and I guess the repercussions that come after is going to be the worst because neither of us have slept,” said Brown.

Police charged the 24 year-old Regina woman with two counts of robbery. She made her first court appearance on the charges on Tuesday morning.

Brown said she and her daughter are still recovering from the shock of the incident.

“(Nyla) just told me that, when she closed her eyes all she could see was that, and she replayed it,” said Brown.

Brown said she is grateful to everyone else who was in the parking lot, that helped keep an eye on the woman and what was going on. She is also reminding residents to be aware of their surroundings, no matter where they are in the city.

“It was the busiest parking lot in Regina and she had no problem holding a knife to a 10-year-old,” said Brown. “It can happen to anyone, anywhere.”

Nyla Mardones and her mother, Jessica Brown, are recovering from the shock of being robbed at knifepoint.