Purse theft foiled

By Phil Anderson

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Two bystanders chased down a 17-year-old boy and held him in a parking lot for police after a purse theft Wednesday evening at a west Topeka store.

Police said the woman's purse and its contents were recovered.

Two other people believed to have been involved in the theft remained at large, police said.

The theft occurred at about 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 1501 S.W. Wanamaker.

Police Cpl. John Trimble said a woman's purse was grabbed out of her shopping cart inside the store.

The two bystanders who witnessed the crime chased the juvenile as he fled the store, running southeast through the Wal-Mart parking lot.

The bystanders apprehended the youth near the parking lot entrance to the Golden Corral restaurant.

Ben Soza, an off-duty corrections officer who came upon the scene, stopped his car and assisted the others who were holding the youth for police.

"They already had him down, but he was kind of resisting and didn't want to stay in place," Soza said. "I let him know I was a corrections officer and was going to do anything I could to help."

Soza, 49, said he retrieved a set of handcuffs from his vehicle and used them to hold the youth until police arrived.

Soza said he applauded those who gave chase and held the youth.

"If more people got involved and had a hands-on approach, more people would be apprehended," Soza said. "Some of these guys wouldn't get away with this stuff."

Phil Anderson can be reached

at (785) 295-1195

or phil.anderson@cjonline.com.

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