Calistoga Plaza Purse Snatcher Identified: Cops

NEW LENOX, IL - The New Lenox Police Department announced on Friday that a 15-year-old boy attacked an elderly woman and her daughter last week during a parking lot purse snatching at the Calistoga Plaza on Laraway Road. A warrant for the juvenile's arrest has been issued and New Lenox Police are working with Bloomington's Police Department to capture the purse snatcher.

According to police, the crime happened at 10:25 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8. After the purse snatching in New Lenox, the thief "ran to a white colored vehicle that was occupied with three other male black individuals," the New Lenox Police Department's press release stated.

"Officers were able to obtain surveillance video from surrounding businesses which captured the incident," New Lenox Police announced Friday.

Later, the police recovered the empty purse in a ditch off Gougar Road.

About 70 minutes after the purse snatching, the same car, "a white colored Chevy Cruze, was involved in a road rage incident in Frankfort, Illinois. At that time a license plate on the vehicle was obtained and it was learned that the vehicle was stolen out of Bloomington, Illinois. Further investigation revealed that same vehicle and same offenders were involved in a dine-and-dash theft at a restaurant in Pontiac, Illinois, and had also committed a theft at the Home Depot in Shorewood," police said.

The stolen car was found last Friday, Nov. 9, in Bloomington.

Now, New Lenox Police revealed on Friday, "a positive identification was made of the 15 year old male black juvenile from Bloomington, Illinois, as the offender in the purse snatching incident. The juvenile has an active warrant out of Bloomington on an unrelated matter."

The Bloomington Police Department has issued a local alert in their effort to apprehend this juvenile offender, New Lenox Police officials said.

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