Purse-snatching suspect caught by bystanders

9/23/2013
BLADE STAFF

MONROE – A woman whose purse had just been stolen and several bystanders were able to chase and corner the purse-snatching suspect Sunday evening.

The suspect, 15, has not been identified by Monroe County officials.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the teen approached a 56-year-old woman, who was also not identified, in a store parking lot in the 15000 block of Telegraph Road in Monroe Township at about 4 p.m. to ask for the time and directions to a local apartment complex.

While the woman was helping the teen, the suspect allegedly grabbed her purse from her shopping cart and fled on a bicycle.

The woman and bystanders chased the teen into a nearby mobile home park where the teen was arrested by deputies.

Authorities recovered the woman's purse and returned it to the victim.

The teen is to be charged with purse snatching and is being held in the Monroe County Youth Center.