JOHN SLADEWSKI/The Standard-Times Antonio Rodrigues chased a suspect who allegedly robbed an elderly woman and stole her purse Thursday outside Super Stop & Shop on Dartmouth Street. He caught the man and held him until police arrived on the scene.
By Brian Fraga
Standard-Times staff writer
March 07, 2008 6:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Antonio Rodrigues of New Bedford started jogging last month to get back into shape.
But Mr. Rodrigues, 32, did not foresee his morning runs would help him catch a suspected purse snatcher.
That's what happened March 1 when a man snatched a 72-year-old woman's purse and pushed her to the ground outside the Super Stop & Shop at 483 Dartmouth St.
Arriving at the store for groceries, Mr. Rodrigues heard people screaming and saw a man running with a pocketbook. He immediately joined another man who chased after the assailant.
"I knew I could catch him," said Mr. Rodrigues, a South End resident.
Mr. Rodrigues ran after the suspect, later identified by police as Gary A. Sylvia, 29, of 1209 Main St., Acushnet.
They ran down Hemlock and Sycamore streets. Mr. Rodrigues closed in on the suspect, calling out: "I'm getting closer ... I'm going to catch you."
The purse snatcher reportedly jumped a fence near Jenkins Street, but could not evade his pursuer.
"There was no way I was losing him," said Mr. Rodrigues, who began running a month ago in preparation for enlisting in the Army National Guard.
Mr. Rodrigues said he jumped on the suspect after cornering him near 33 Jenkins St. He held him down until a New Bedford police officer arrived.
"I never did anything like that before," said Mr. Rodrigues, who later returned the purse to the victim at Stop & Shop.
"It felt good," he said.
Police said the suspect allegedly robbed another woman about 20 minutes before the Stop & Shop purse snatching. A 29-year-old woman reported to police she was accosted around 12:01 p.m. as she was leaving the Sovereign Bank at 58 County St.
The woman said a white man, wearing a brown jacket, gray pants and a green hat, grabbed her purse and knocked her down. She held onto the purse and was dragged several feet before she finally let go, according to police reports.
A man who witnessed that attack chased after the suspect, who ran down Jouvette Street, but was unable to catch him.
Another witness told police she had seen the suspect standing outside the bank and looking at people walking in. She told police it appeared he was up to "no good."
Police were investigating the incident when they received a call at 12:24 p.m. about the Stop & Shop purse snatching. Police officers responding to the call were notified that civilians were chasing after the suspect.
Mr. Rodrigues said he grabbed the suspect after he jumped a fence and pushed him to the ground. He told the suspect to stay down, but he still tried fighting back.
"I did what I had to do to incapacitate him," Mr. Rodrigues said.
"I had to hit him a couple of times. I put my knee in his back and yelled out for help. A couple guys in a nearby house came out and called 911 for me."
Police officers arrived and arrested the man they identified as Mr. Sylvia. They brought him to the Sovereign Bank, where the first victim identified him as the man who had robbed her.
Police later found the woman's purse inside Mr. Sylvia's car and returned it to her, court records said.
Mr. Rodrigues asked police to allow him to personally return the purse to the victim at Stop & Shop. They brought him in a cruiser back to the store, where he was greeted by the appreciative victim and her relatives.
A store manager offered to give him gift certificates, but Mr. Rodrigues turned them down.
Meanwhile, police officers who watched a Stop & Shop surveillance video said they could clearly see a man matching Mr. Sylvia's description throwing the woman to the ground and running off with her purse.
Mr. Sylvia was arraigned Monday in New Bedford District Court on charges that include two counts of unarmed robbery, assault and battery and assault and battery on a person over 60.
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