An elderly woman is recovering after being assaulted and robbed at a Warren grocery store.
"He came from nowhere! All of a sudden he is there," the victim, Elizabeth Papandrea, explained. "He tried to take my purse, I wouldn't let it go so he took me and pushed me down. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I shop there all the time."
The 88-year-old victim, was shopping at the Oak Ridge market on Ryan Road on February 26 when a man tried to steal her purse.
"I wouldn't tell you what I would've done to him if he didn't knock me down. I would've given him one swift kick," she said. "He didn't give me a chance or I would've."
Papandrea suffered shoulder injuries and a hip fracture, resulting in a hip replacement.
"How would you think you'd be picking some fruit and have some creep come up from behind you," she said.
Warren Police said the suspect is Steven Boyd.
When he made off with Papandrea's purse, a few Good Samaritans chased him down and got her purse back.
"Grateful that somebody was there," she said.
Gay Toma was one of the people who chased down the suspect.
"I just heard a commotion over there and heard a big bang and then I'd seen a customer struggling with a mugger," Toma explained. "I just chased him down and ran outside and opened up his car and got the purse back. My adrenaline was rushing it was a crazy moment."
After returning the purse to the victim, Toma was shocked to learn who the suspect was.
"I knew him. He was a customer of mine at the store," Toma said. "Been coming to this store for a good five years. Pretty dumb actually."
Boyd was arrested a few hours after the incident.
"I just felt like it was the right thing to do," Toma added. "It wasn't right, that's what made me do it. I felt like somebody had to do it."
Customers and the mayor are all happy the man has been caught.
Mayor Jim Fouts said, "Our senior citizens certainly didn't deserve that. She underwent some pain and suffering but I'm happy it might have been worse but she was able to get her purse back."
"Thank Goodness someone stepped up here at the store and reacted to the situation instead of just standing by and watching it happen," Sharon Causey, a shopper, said.
The suspect remains in jail. His preliminary hearing is being held Thursday.
