Purse Snatcher Drags 62-Year-Old Woman in Failed Robbery: Prosecutor

Keith Siedlinski, 32 | Cook County Sheriff

A would-be purse snatcher injured a 62-year-old woman when he tried to grab her handbag outside an Orland Park grocery store, prosecutors said in court Wednesday.

Keith Siedlinski, 32, of Orland Park, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a charge of attempted robbery.

According to the charges, Siedlinski approached the woman near an Aldi store on March 22. When he tried to grab the bag, the woman would not let go. She was knocked to the ground and dragged by Siedlinski as she hung on to her purse.

Prosecutors said the woman suffered injuries to her leg as a result of being dragged.

Police caught up with Siedlinski moments later and placed him under arrest. He allegedly admitted to trying to steal the woman’s purse because he needed the money to buy drugs.

Siedlinski served two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on a 2012 an escape from electronic monitoring conviction. He also has a felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance in 2010 and a conviction on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia from 2008, the prosecutor said.

The assistant public defender told the judge that Siedlinski lives with his mother and suffers from mental health issues due to a prior traumatic head injury.

Judge Felice set bail at $100,000. Siedlinski is due back in court on April 7 in Bridgeview.