Hero Granny Identified

The "super-senior" who bravely fought-off jewel thieves with her handbag has been unmasked.

She's 71-year old grandmother, Ann Timson -- and she's being called a hero by her community.

Timson was caught on video Monday beating up a gang of robbers with her bag. They were trying to break the windows of a jewelry store in Northampton, England.

She initially thought a kid was being beaten up.

"My mother's instinct kicked in and I ran across the road shouting at the lads to stop it," she said in an interview with the British newspaper The Sunys. "I was not going to stand by and watch someone take a beating, so I intervened. As I got closer, I saw it was a robbery - and then I was even more angry that they felt they could get away with that in broad daylight"

The fiesty granny was on a mission.

"I clobbered (one would-be thief) with my shopping, but he got away. The rest were still trying to smash and grab the jewelry," she says. "I just kept swinging my bag, then they tried to escape. I landed several blows against one lad on the back of a bike and brought him to the ground."

But there was a close call. "He raised a hammer to me, so I kept hitting out and shouting for others to bring them down. I was amazed, they all seemed mesmerised," she says.

Would she do it again?

"In the cold light of day I know I put myself in danger, but I'd probably do the same again," she says. "I'm not a hero, but somebody had to do something."

On Tuesday, "Early Show" co-anchor Jeff Glor reported the story. Watch the Granny in action!: