Teens ‘aggressively’ try to steal purse from 67-year-old at Dillons, Wichita cops say

Two teens tried to steal a purse from a 67-year-old customer at Dillons on Saturday when one of the boys “aggressively” pulled on it, Wichita police said in a statement posted to Facebook.

One of the 16-year-old boys had a handgun with him, police said, and the other had a BB gun.

The teen who tried pulling on the woman’s purse around 6 p.m. was unable to steal it from the woman before both boys started running away through the parking lot at 5500 E. Harry, police said.

As the teens were running, an off-duty officer working security at Dillons grocery store saw the “two teenaged males being chased in the parking lot and was informed that the males stole a purse from a customer,” police said.

The off-duty officer then also chased after the teens before taking them into custody with the help of the citizen who was chasing them, Officer Charley Davidson told The Wichita Eagle.

One of the teens was arrested on suspicion of criminal possession of firearm by a juvenile, attempted robbery and resisting arrest. The second teen was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery and resisting arrest. The names of the teens were not released by police.

No injuries were reported.

This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 11:00 AM.