Police: Handbag snatcher arrested for robbery after victim and good Samaritans cornered him in outlet mall parking lot on Saturday

The victim of a purse snatching and two good Samaritans pursued the suspect hiding behind bushes at Tanger Outlets while other witnesses called 911 Saturday afternoon, according to a Riverhead police report. Officers quickly arrived and apprehended the suspect, who now faces aggravated robbery charges, police said in a news release Sunday.

The victim reported that an unidentified man wearing a ski mask reached into the open rear window of a vehicle parked in a parking lot on Tangier 2, where she was resting while her friends were shopping, and attempted to snatch her purse. The man held the woman down while attempting to snatch her purse, and a struggle ensued, leaving the woman with minor injuries, police said. According to the report, he managed to snatch the purse, which contained the woman’s debit card, and fled on foot heading east toward the wooded area between Tangier 2 and Tangier 3.

The 44-year-old woman got out of the vehicle and chased the suspect while screaming and alerting others in the area that she had just been robbed, police said. Two Good Samaritans joined in the pursuit of the victim and others called 911 to report the robbery and learned that the suspect was hiding behind a bush in the area of ​​the Tangier 3 parking lot near the wooded area between Tangier 3 and Tangier 2, police said.

Patrol officers were able to immediately locate and arrest the suspect, identified according to the report as Shawn Collins, 35. Collins has no residence but is known to frequent the Riverhead area, police said. Police said they found Collins in possession of a black ski mask and took the victim’s purse and bank card.

Riverhead police said Suffolk County probation officers arrived at the scene and reported they were alerted when Collins removed the GPS ankle bracelet that had been ordered by the court as a condition of his release in a previous case and threw it in the wooded area between Tangier 2 and Tangier 3.

Riverhead Police detectives and a Riverhead Police Department canine unit began the investigation and the canine unit was able to locate evidence related to the robbery as well as the discarded GPS ankle bracelet, the report said.

Collins was subsequently arrested and transported to the Riverhead Police Department, where he was charged with third-degree robbery under NYS Penal Law Section 160.05, a Class D felony, and held pending arraignment, police said.

The investigation is ongoing, police said. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information related to the investigation is asked to contact the Riverhead Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at (631) 727-4500. All calls will be treated confidentially, police said.

Editor’s Note: A criminal complaint is an accusation. A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.