Good Samaritans Help Police Nab Purse Thief At Local Shopping Center
COLLIER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- It was a quick arrest for police Tuesday afternoon at a Chartiers Valley shopping center after three Good Samaritans got involved when they saw a man steal a woman's purse.
Cell phone video shot by a witness shows the suspected purse snatcher in handcuffs. But none of it would have happened without a man who was riding a bicycle.
"It's a crazy world, crazy," said Chaz Steinbrunn, a witness. "A guy jumped off his bike and tackled him."
Steinbrunn, a Sonic employee, ran out of the back door of the business to help out.
According to witnesses, the suspect grabbed the elderly woman's purse in K-Mart's nearby parking lot.
A young man riding by the scene on a 10-speed tackled the suspect, and then two other good Samaritans got involved.
The one guy had a bat and they just held him down, made sure he wasn't going anywhere.
KDKA's Marty Griffin: "So, one of them had a baseball bat?"
Steinbrunn: "Yeah, an older guy."
Griffin: "And he was what? Standing over him?"
Steinbrunn: "Yeah. He said, 'You better not move.'"
Meanwhile, Steinbrunn was ready to help if needed.
"Especially with a little old lady just getting robbed for no reason in broad daylight," he said.
Collier Township Police say the suspect will face robbery charges. The police chief adds that the suspect had a number of priors and may have a drug problem.
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