Police Arrest Three Teens As “Purse Cruisers”

East Greenbush Police have arrested three teens for Grand Larceny, Conspiracy and Petit Larceny, for purse thefts from ladies that were shopping at retail stores or supermarkets.

In a press release from the East Greenbush Police, the teens arrested are 16-year-old Matthew G. Hempstead and 18-year-old Charles G. Hempstead of East Greenbush and 18-year-old Kymberly A. Carroll, of Nassau. East Greenbush Police Department

They did this on January 4, when a woman stepped away from her pocketbook for a moment. It was all caught on the store’s surveillance cameras. The police have been getting numerous calls about this happening to several people.

They are called “purse cruisers.” They sometimes work in small groups to cruise the isles of a store, looking for a shopper whose pocketbook is off her shoulder and in the cart. Then, when the shopper is busy looking at or getting merchandise from the shelf, the “purse cruiser” will reach into the pocketbook and steal her wallet, or sometimes the whole pocketbook. It also happens in a store’s parking lot. While the shopper’s back is turned loading merchandise into her car, the “purse cruisers” will walk up and take the wallet out of the cart. The “purse cruisers” are usually youths.

Sgt. Ernest Tubbs, the Crime Prevention Officer of the East Greenbush Police Department has issued an appeal, calling for ladies to take steps to avoid becoming a crime victim while shopping. He encourages all shoppers that have a purse to use a shoulder strap to carry your pocketbook if it must be carried in the store. The cross shoulder method is the most effective to prevent purse snatching. And, once in the parking lot, secure your pocketbook inside your car first, before you empty your shopping cart. Other tips can be found on the East Greenbush Police Department’s website.