Purse snatching suspect turned in by grandma

TAMPA - Police say a serial purse snatcher has been arrested after his grandmother recognized him in surveillance video shown on local television.

According to authorities, the 15-year-old suspect's grandmother called the boy's father, who turned his son in to police after seeing the surveillance video himself.

Officers say the suspect's father brought him into police headquarters around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, and the suspect later admitted to one of the purse snatching incidents in question, which occurred Wednesday afternoon in the 4900 block of Busch Boulevard.

Police obtained surveillance video from a local business on Thursday, which showed the suspect inside just minutes before the purse snatching took place. In the video, the suspect is seen wearing the same clothing that the victim and a witness described.

After being taken into custody, the suspect was questioned regarding three similar purse snatching incidents that took place between January 16 and March 2 in the same area, police say, and he denied knowing anything about those incidents.

The 15-year-old boy has been charged in the most recent purse snatching and police say the investigation into the other three incidents is ongoing.

Police said Friday that the purse snatcher had become increasingly violent each time he acted.

Nancy Husten, the most recent victim, told FOX 13 that the suspect came up to her on his bicycle and ripped her purse right off her arm.

"If I was strong enough, I would have pushed him off the bike. The police detective said, 'it was probably a good thing that you didn't because he could have had a knife or a gun,'" Husten explained.

During one of the other robberies, a woman was dragged 200 feet across the parking lot as she struggled for her handbag.