GRESHAM, Ore. -- A Gresham woman prevented a thief from stealing her neighbor's car battery last week.

The thief had popped the hood of a truck in a Gresham neighborhood, grabbed the car battery and loaded it into his van last Thursday.

But the neighbor of the truck owner said she ran outside and stood in front of the van as the thief tried to get away. She said the thief tried to drive around her but she stood her ground even after the van hit her leg.

The neighbor, who spoke on camera but was only identified as Susan, said she was able to get the man to give up the battery.

"He finally stopped and I said, 'Give back the battery," the woman said. "And so he reached back -- there was quite a few of them back there -- and grabbed it and sort of tossed it out the window at me."

The thief took off in an older gray van with the partial Oregon license plate number of TTW. Anyone with information on the attempted theft is asked to call Gresham police.