Delivery driver stabbed and bitten trying to stop robbery suspect in Malden
MALDEN -- A good Samaritan who was trying to stop a man from stealing a purse was stabbed and bitten by the suspect, police said. It happened in Malden on Monday afternoon.
As he showed us the stab wound to his leg and the bites on his arm, Ryan Dos Santos did not want to show his face as he admitted what he did was a bit crazy.
"I saw the opportunity, tackled him," Dos Santos said. "Who's going to run at a guy with a knife threatening to stab you? Not everyone."
A neighborhood teen recorded video even before police arrived of Dos Santos pinning the suspected purse snatcher to the ground in an alley off Chestnut Street.
"He was able to stab me in my leg, my quad," Dos Santos said. "Bit me three times on my left arm. I was able to hold him. Police came shortly after."
It began just before 2 p.m. Monday when police say a man wrenched a woman's purse away as she was walking nearby. The suspect ran through a backyard and then right past where Dos Santos was delivering groceries for Instacart. That's when Dos Santos heard neighbors screaming and tackled the man, even as the suspect stabbed and bit him.
"I don't think it's that big a deal," Dos Santos said. "I did what every good citizen should do. I don't know if they would but should."
Police certainly don't agree with that, even as they acknowledge Dos Santos' bravery. But they also point out he could have been killed and they'd rather have witnesses just observe.
"You don't know what you're getting into," said Malden Police Capt. Marc Gatcomb. "Call the police and just be the eyes and ears for us."
Police say the suspect is 26-year-old Jayson Seay of Peabody and believe he followed the woman from the nearby T station. Ryan says he subdued the suspect on instinct and is still sorting through the confrontation that has many neighbors calling him a hero.
"The bitemarks sting a bit," he said. "I'm feeling pretty good. Being called a hero. That's nice."