Woman, 91, Teaches Purse Snatcher a Lesson

Woman, 91, Teaches Purse Snatcher a Lesson

TOLEDO, Ohio Jun 6, 2005 — A purse snatcher picked on the wrong 91-year-old, police said. Katherine Woodworth started swinging her purse at the man and hit him until he ran away, police said. He had walked up to her in a department store parking lot Saturday afternoon and told her that he was going to take her purse.

"I didn't have my hearing aid in, and I thought he said that he was going to take my pulse," she said. "Then he said it again that he was going to take my purse and I said, 'No, you're not.'"

The small woman with gray hair and glasses turned angry.


"He just made me mad," Woodworth said. "I wasn't really thinking, I just hit him."

Woodworth's moves impressed Sgt. Tim Hanus.

"I'm kind of surprised and amused," he said. "She let him have it just hard enough to scare him off."

Another woman in the parking lot noticed the struggle and took a description of the suspect's vehicle and a license plate number.

Police arrested Matthew Spradlin, 20, of Walbridge. He also was accused of stealing a purse at a grocery store, where employees accused him of trying to take a woman's purse off her shopping cart. He was charged with robbery, felony theft, assault, aggravated menacing, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hanus said women Woodworth's age shouldn't try to fight off attackers. Woodworth said she didn't think her age was much of a factor.

"I'll be 92 in August and I guess I've got more nerve now than when I was younger," she said.



Information from: The Blade, http://www.toledoblade.com/

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