Good Samaritans Help Nab Suspect Who Assaulted Pregnant Woman
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Maricela Morales should be looking forward to the upcoming birth of a son, not back on that dreaded Tuesday when she was assaulted just a block from her home.
She was walking down the sidewalk near Lake Street and 12th Avenue South in Minneapolis around 10:30 a.m. when a man she'd just passed turned around and assaulted her.
"The back, he grabbed her," said Maricela's husband, Javier. "Yes, two or three times, [her purse] broke."
With her husband as interpreter, Maricela said she was scared for her unborn child. She was shoved to the ground and skinned her knees. The young man ran off with her purse and a bag.
Jason Dooley-Estrada not only heard Maricela's screams, he saw the assault from the rear-view mirror in his truck. He just happened to be parked on the street working on a home near where the attack happened.
"By the time I got out of the truck, she was already face-down on the ground," Dooley-Estrada said. "He slammed her down, yanking at her purse. I was yelling at him as I called 911."
After calling police, Dooley-Estrada's fellow worker, Estuardo Sandoval, gave chase for about two blocks.
"I've been down there 23 years and seen it all, these guys, it's sad," Dooley-Estrada said. "More people need to stand up to 'em."
Mershad Lamont Anthony, 18, was quickly cornered and cuffed by responding police officers. He apparently tossed aside Maricela's belongings when he was being pursued.
Maricela says the scrapes and bruises will go away in time, adding that the birth of her son will help to heal the hurt.
"I hope she's all right and her baby," Dooley-Estrada said.
Mershad Anthony is in the Hennepin County jail and will face charges of robbery and assault when he appears in court on Wednesday.