Purse Snatchers Lead Police on Interstate Chase

Two North Carolina residents have been arrested and charged with snatching a Gwinnett woman’s purse, then leading a police chase down the interstate.

Raekwon Duan Carter, 18, and Natasha Monique McKnight, 23, both of Winston-Salem, N.C., have been charged with robbery by sudden snatching and theft by receiving, Gwinnett Police said in a news release. Both are currently in the Gwinnett County jail.

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The pair is accused of stealing the woman’s purse while she was walking toward the Sam’s Club on Satellite Boulevard Friday morning around 8 a.m. Police said the woman had walked to an ATM nearby while her husband was shopping at Sam’s; her purse was snatched while she was in front of the Sports Authority store in the area.

The woman gave police a description of the suspects and their car, as well as a partial tag number.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper spotted the car on I-85 southbound near Chamblee Tucker Road in DeKalb County and pursued. The trooper used a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver to stop the vehicle, Gwinnett Police said in the news release.

The suspects were arrested and taken to the county jail.

The car they were driving was reported stolen out of North Carolina. The woman’s belongings were returned.

There was no word on other possible charges.

(Photos: Raekwon Duan Carter, 18, and Natasha Monique McKnight, 23. Gwinnett County Jail mug shots)