Alleged Ann Arbor purse snatcher in jail after bystanders catch suspect
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the suspect's age. He is 27, not 17.
A 27-year-old male is in the Washtenaw County Jail awaiting arraignment after his arrest earlier today following a purse snatching in downtown Ann Arbor.
Sgt. Matt Lige with the Ann Arbor Police Department says that the call came in at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. A 41-year-old woman, a resident of Ann Arbor, was at an ATM in the 100 block of South Main Street making a withdrawal when a male approached her and grabbed her purse.
He ran southbound on Main Street, but a suspect was detained by two uninvolved bystanders. Police received the call, and when they got to the scene, they pursued the man, who discarded the purse and ran south on Main Street. Police caught up with him and arrested him.
Charges are pending.
Comments
FormerMichRes
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 12:09 p.m.
It says something about local residents/commenters -- more worried about editing the article than the crime itself. Ann Arborites -- things are getting out of control. Too many street people milling around and aggressively panhandling. I live in a very large city now that does not come close in numbers of street people and panhandlers. Ann Arbor is becoming a sad case of benign neglect. It's a slippery slope. Just look at the City of Detroit. You don't have to be a fortune teller to figure out what's next for A2.
zanzerbar
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 4:34 p.m.
"Just look at the City of Detroit." Where would you guess these people are coming from?
Billy
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 1:25 p.m.
Good job citizens. Give them awards please.
4 Fingers
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 12:54 p.m.
Weekend aa.com at its finest. Reporter prolly was late to the downtown hipster scene when this story came across.
Dr. Fate
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 11:32 a.m.
Jeez, all these commenter complaints/insults about "was he detained or pursued?" It doesn't seem unreasonable that he was detained by the bystanders then squirmed away. By that time, police were there. Maybe for the crack bounty hunters on this board, a perp never escapes your clutches, but for the typo hunters, it's probably not as easy.
RunsWithScissors
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 1:57 p.m.
"typo hunters" Priceless. If ya want to read good English then get a current issue of the New Yorker or Washington Post. Otherwise just relax & enjoy the tortured sentences at annarbor.tab(loid).
thinker
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 3:04 a.m.
Maybe the bystanders who caught him had to let him go right in front of the police so the police could pursue him and get him for fleeing a police officer and resisting arrest? Since he only "allegedly" snatched a purse? That's what is implied!
TheDiagSquirrel
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 12:26 a.m.
The real crime in this story is the lack of editing and proofreading. It is not just this article. The lack of editorial oversight from this website (except for comment board moderation, lol) is consistently amusing to its audience.
Dog Guy
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 12:21 a.m.
Is downtown a catch-and-release zone?
DBH
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 12:19 a.m.
As others have noted, the logic in this article is wanting. "Uninvolved" is likely an unnecessary adjective, and the continuity from the suspect being detained by the bystanders to being pursued by the police is absent. This same journalist mishandled another story on Hill Auditorium from a couple of weeks ago. See the comments (as well as the Editor's note at the beginning of the story) at: http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/perfect-acoustics-celebrated-as-part-of-hill-aditoriums-100th-anniversary-event-saturday/
DBH
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 5:14 p.m.
@Tru2Blu76, I think your characterization of AnnArbor.com's possible efforts in explaining the results we see in their online product is unduly harsh. I think I am as disappointed and unhappy as anyone on this site with the errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence construction and lapses in logic that permeate their online offerings. However, I would ascribe these ongoing errors to more of a tolerance for sloppiness in thought processes (and their published products) combined with a lack of sufficient respect for the readership and for the English language, rather than to any inherent mental deficiencies of their writers. I have asked AnnArbor.com how these errors occur and why they are not caught by their copy editors, but my request for insight has either been deleted (as a comment within the Hill Auditorium story) or (as of now) ignored/unanswered (on the Comment Moderation site - see my comments on that site from 2/3/13 and 2/10/13).
Tru2Blu76
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 5:41 a.m.
There you go, trying to instruct "professional newspaper writers." Pointless. Besides, for all we know, AnnArbordotcom might be involved in a charitable effort to employ the, uh, intellectually handicapped and "English Challenged." What better explains the tortured prose appearing in articles on this site?
An Arborigine
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 12:06 a.m.
Props to the peeps who "detained" the perp for some unknown amount of time, then released him so the cops could apprehend and arrest?
JBK
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 11:52 p.m.
Wow! Does anybody proof read this anymore? This makes NO sense at all. "He ran southbound on Main Street, but a suspect was detained by two uninvolved bystanders. Police received the call, and when they got to the scene, they pursued the teen, who discarded the purse and ran south on Main Street. Police caught up with him and arrested him." First A2.com states that he was detained by a couplebystanders, THEN they back track and state the cops PURSUED the teen. which one is it? Horrible journalism. Probably went to MSU. :)
Reverend Bubba X
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.
It's hard to tell who's more childish, the suspected teen purse snatcher or....
JBK
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 1:19 a.m.
nowayjose - Ok! He/she probably went to OSU or as Brady would say "that school in Ohio!":)
nowayjose
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 11:55 p.m.
You had me until your shot at msu. Go Green!
ArgoC
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 11:21 p.m.
I'm a little confused. Was the "suspect detained by two uninvolved bystanders" the same person who was pursued by police?
DBH
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 3:57 a.m.
Definition of "bystander" ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bystander ): one present but not taking part in a situation or event : a chance spectator. By its very definition, a bystander is "uninvolved." That adjective was redundant in the story.
Ann English
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 2:13 a.m.
"Uninvolved bystanders" must mean bystanders who were not accessories to the crime. I know, my first thought was "passive bystanders" but the criminal would have to be awfully distracted by them, if that were the case.
Doug
Sun, Feb 17, 2013 : 5:10 p.m.
Indeed. Maybe the suspect broke free from the bystanders and was later apprehended by the police. The article should have been clearer. No Pulitzers this year for aa.com. Four Fingers hit the nail on the head -- the writer's press deadline probably conflicted with a downtown hipster obligation, hence the sloppiness.
Joslyn at the U
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 10:39 p.m.
Seriously??? Who in the hell could possibly be that stupid to try and snatch a purse in downtown ann arbor? Its a comedy skitt right? Wow
tdw
Sat, Feb 16, 2013 : 10:22 p.m.
Chalk one up for the good guys