By Good Samaritans –

Purse Snatcher Tackled In Sand Hill Plaza

Two local men are being called heroes this week after they apprehended a man who had just knocked a woman to the ground and stole her purse at Sand Hill Plaza Sunday.

Police arrested 39-year-old Mark Booth of 52 Lakeview Terrace in Newtown at the scene. He was charged in the crime, which ended almost as quickly as it began thanks to the efforts of the two men who wish to remain anonymous. According to police, the men acted instinctively after hearing the screams of Swan Gardner, a Brookfield resident who was thrown to the ground during the attack. The incident took place at around 5:45 pm in the parking lot in front of Super Stop & Shop. The suspect, with purse in hand, then began running toward the far southern entrance of the plaza where he was chased down and tackled.

Newtown Police Officer Lou Ferreira was first on the scene.

“When I got to the scene, there was crowd of people around the victim, who was down on the ground. Then the people in the crowd pointed to some other people down by the south entrance and they were struggling with this guy, so I drove over there and jumped on the guy and cuffed him up,” the officer told The Bee this week.

Meanwhile, members of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps treated the victim for a minor injury to her leg.

According to police, Mr Booth walked to Sand Hill Plaza on foot and had plans to leave on foot, as well. He wound up leaving in the back of a police cruiser and earlier this week was being held on $5,000 bond, pending a court appearance.

Officer Ferreira commended the efforts of the two men, but urged people to use caution and to let the police make arrests.

“It’s good to see that citizens are trying to help each other out, but don’t try to take matters into you hands. Call us. We’ll get them. These guys got lucky, but it could have turned out bad if he had a weapon,” Officer Ferreira said.