Friday, July 10, 2015

Alleged purse snatcher caught by security store employee on Avenue B



A man reportedly wanted for several local purse snatchings was chased down and stopped by an employee of Top Notch Security on Avenue B yesterday.

Matthew Gonzalez, who works at the store at 8-12 Avenue B between East Houston and East Second Street, spotted the alleged purse snatcher in action.

Per CBS New York:

“We watched him, and he eventually stole some lady’s purse. I chased after him, grabbed him, and before you know it the cops were on him,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he recognized the suspect, wanted by police, and jumped into action when the man stole a woman’s purse as she sat in front of a restaurant on Avenue B.

Gonzalez said the man in the video is possibly connected to other recent purse thefts in the area.

“I thought, ‘Let me catch this guy, because he’s going to keep doing it again if he’s not caught,” he said.

Police initially came to the store to see if cameras captured the same suspect this past Sunday, turns out they did.

Top Notch reps shared the surveillance video with us…



Several people who saw this scene pay out yesterday thought it was the man who swiped the iPhone from a pedestrian on Avenue A and East Seventh Street. It was not.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good man!

Anonymous said...

> “I thought, ‘Let me

That line is straight out of a movie or something!

p.s. Glad ya got 'im!!!

Makeout said...

Community involvement! Good shit!

Anonymous said...

There is an increase in robberies in the area. Also beware that during summer with open windows and air conditioners easy to get into apartments esp. as backyards are so close together.

Anonymous said...

If you haven't watched the video, definitely do. It is hilarious. The purse snatcher completely misread his "audience."

A large group of townsfolk gave chase. He did not stand a chance.

Pinch said...

This is awesome! A great way to start the weekend! Job well done, people.

Anonymous said...

I love the primal urge in these men to catch and subdue their prey. I bet they're all pretty disappointed they didn't get a piece of him (happy though they were that he was caught).

Anonymous said...

ATTA BOYYYYY!!!!!!!

That man deceives free beers for a year wherever he goes in the neighborhood!!

Anonymous said...

What an awesome guy. Let's pay his rent for the month. Bet he's struggling with that.

VH McKenzie said...

WOW - this warms my heart. So many neighborhood gentlemen on the case -- I salute you all!

It is a low, low, low man who will steal a woman's purse. Seriously - wtf?

Ok, so maybe it is low, low, low to steal anything from anybody, but a man grabbing a woman's purse?

Dude - we are only making .78 cents on the dollar in the first place. You'd be better off working a shift at McDonald's than stealing from us.

Stupid douchey, lazy douche idiot.

Go to jail. Do not pass "GO". Do not collect .78 cents.

Gojira said...

Thank you to all of the young men who chased this perp. Wonderful to see such an overwhelming response to the actions of a dumb loser; between this and the phone-thief chaser on the Citibike, it's good to know there are people willing to step up and help.

Anonymous said...

Ladies, stop with the purses. It's like, you leave them all over, slung around on the back of chairs, etc. The increase in perps is due only to this idiocy. A few years ago, there was a series of purse snatchings in bars in Soho. Are those same women now hanging out here?

And, Matt Gonzalez, he's from another era -- the older LES when this did not happen. And, if it did, you got chased down from brothers and uncles.



Anonymous said...

Great to see all of these people chasing down the purse snatcher. Thank you for being good neighbors! FYI: I am a woman, and if I had seen this happen, I would have been chasing him, too!

Anonymous said...

It is wonderful to see people get involved. We should never tolerate low life criminals like this who ruin our neighborhood and daily lives. This was handled beautifully by the security guard and by those who jumped in to assist. The best part.....nobody got killed. Cool heads prevailed. Kudos!

Hey19 said...

this almost seems staged doesnt it?

Anonymous said...

What about this seems staged? The video? The eyewitness reports?

Anonymous said...

I would of chin checked that puss ass mother ducked