Washington 13-year-old steals woman’s purse, punches her outside Seattle pharmacy, police say
A 13-year-old Washington boy was arrested earlier this month after he snatched a woman’s purse at a Seattle pharmacy and punched her in the face when she confronted him, authorities said.
The incident in the 2600 block of Southwest Barton Street on April 6 was captured on the pharmacy’s surveillance camera.
The video shows two teens walking up to a woman near the entrance of the pharmacy when one of the teens swipes her purse from her hands.
As the woman chases the teen outside the store, the contents of the purse are strewn onto the sidewalk. Other juveniles can be seen in the video picking up the items that fell out.
At one point in the video, the woman confronts one young suspect, who can then be seen putting his fists up and punching the woman once in the face before walking away with others.
Officers responded to reports of a strong-arm robbery, the Seattle Police Department said.
The victim told police that an employee had confronted a group of teens inside the store and accused them of not paying for merchandise.
She described how the purse snatching unfolded and reported that the teen grabbed her shirt and threw her to the ground before punching her in the face several times, police said.
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Police later located the suspect and two other teens near 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Barton Street.
Officer-worn bodycam video shows officers approaching the 13-year-old suspect.
"Am I being detained?" the teen asked.
An officer replied that he is being detained and informed the teen that he is being arrested for robbery.
"Robbery? What the f---," the teen can be heard saying.
As officers tried to place the suspect in handcuffs, the boy attempted to run away, police footage shows. The suspect made it only a few steps before officers grabbed him and put him in handcuffs.
The 13-year-old was booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center for investigation of robbery. The two other teens were identified and released.