Crime Time

Grocery employee chases purse snatcher, gets fired

Troy Shafer thought he was doing the right thing on July 21 when he chased a purse-snatching suspect that had fled the Randall's store Shafer worked at in Round Rock.

His act cost him his job, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Shafer said he acted on instinct to help a 52-year-old customer who called out for help when her purse was taken from her cart. Shafer sprang into action and gave chase. He eventually retrieved her purse and police eventually captured a 15-year-old suspect.

Randall's officials said Shafer violated a company policy that prohibits such acts. Employees are trained to gather information for police, not try to apprehend a suspect themselves, store officials said.

-- Lance Murray

Gritty woman fells purse snatcher, but breaks her leg

Jacqueline Boss must be pretty tough.

The Galveston woman captured a purse thief while dining with a friend at a Galveston bar. When the friend got up to use the restroom she left her purse on the table. A man faking a cell phone call at the bar snatched the purse.

Boss, 44, lit off in pursuit and was on his tail when he jumped a 5-foot-tall fence behind the bar. The 5-foot-10, 250-pound woman heard her leg snap when she hit the ground. Despite a broken leg, she still was able to grab his shirt and bring him to the ground. Five nearby men held the 6-foot-tall, 190-pound suspect down until authorities arrived, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Another woman whose purse was lifted at a nearby establishment identified the man as the culprit in her case, too.

Good for Jacqueline. Hope she heals quickly.

-- Lance Murray

Granny runs down (literally), nabs purse snatching suspect

Let's hear it for granny!

NBC 5 reports that a 65-year-old grandmother, who said she was "madder than hell," chased down a man she said had just snatched her purse in east Fort Worth, hit him with her car and then held him until officers arrived.

"I was madder than hell is what I was," Val Renfro told the TV station. "I didn't think about anything else except, 'He's not going to get away with this.'"

Renfro gave a running narrative to a 911 operator during her brief pursuit and capture.

-- Lance Murray