RCMP Spokesperson Gord Molendyk
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
February 03, 2014 - 12:32 PM
VERNON - A Vernon couple took it upon themselves to chase down a purse thief last Wednesday.
Around 5:20 p.m. a woman was dropping off her kids at the Boys and Girls Club by the Vernon recreation Centre when she discovered a man in the passenger side door of her car. There was no sign of a forced entry, and the woman may have left the car unlocked. The man grabbed her purse and bolted towards 32 Street.
A woman down the street heard the woman cry ‘help’ and yelled back to her, asking if the man had stolen something from her. The victim called back that he had stolen her purse, and the 35-year-old bystander began chasing the suspect on foot while her husband followed in the car.
The chase went past 32 Street and into the Carl’s Junior parking lot where the pair of good samaritans caught up with the suspect and snatched the purse from him. The man continued to flee with the woman in pursuit until he ducked into an alley off 39 Avenue.
“Our officers responded to the area within seconds and cordoned it off for our Police Service Dog Unit,” RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says.
The team tracked the suspect to the back door of a residence in the 2700 block of 39 Avenue.
“It was obvious that the suspect had gone into this residence but nobody would answer the door. With the time delay there was a possibility the suspect was not there so our officers did not go into the residence,” Molendyk says.
The suspect has not been apprehended, but owing to the two good samaritans, the purse and contents were recovered.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014