Police say bystanders chased down a man accused of snatching a woman's purse and held him until police arrived.
Authorities in Fairbanks arrested a 23-year-old North Pole man on Thursday. A 63-year-old woman told police she was sitting in her car in a Walmart parking lot when David Compton, the suspect, opened the door and grabbed her purse off the floor.
Fairbanks police Lt. Dan Welborn tells the Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/KOupOb ) that the woman chased after him as far as she could, yelling "thief."
Others in the parking lot heard the exchange. About a half-dozen people chased after him, catching up to him in a nearby parking lot where one person wrestled him to the ground.
The man told police the purse belonged to his girlfriend.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com