Oakland Man Charged With Assaulting Woman, Stealing Her Purse Near San Leandro Target

A 19-year-old Oakland man has been charged with robbery and assault in the theft of woman’s purse near the Target store at Bayfair Center in San Leandro on Monday evening, police said today. A 24-year-old woman was walking across the pedestrian bridge from the Bayfair BART station to the Bayfair Center at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday when she was approached from behind by a man, according to San Leandro police.

The woman is only 5-foot-3 and the suspect, Rhylon Green, is 6-foot-2, police said. The man allegedly grabbed the woman’s purse and then repeatedly hit the woman in her head as she struggled to hang on to it, causing her to suffer a laceration, police said. The man walked away and began searching through the victim’s purse but followed him and pleaded with him to return her purse, according to police. The man eventually kept the victim’s wallet, dropped the purse, and walked away, police said.

Witnesses called police to report the robbery and one witness got into her car, followed the man and provided updates to police as they responded to the scene, according to police. Minutes later, officers spotted Green on East 14th St. near Fairmont Drive in San Leandro and arrested him without incident, police said.

Lt. Robert McManus said in a statement, “This is a prime example of citizens helping law enforcement solve crime. Although it is alarming to hear about this type of violence, it is great to hear about witnesses becoming involved and providing police with critical information which leads to the immediate arrest of criminals.”

The Alameda County District Attorney on Wednesday filed robbery and assault charges against Green today and he was scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward this afternoon.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock

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