'He Ran Through the Wrong Crowd': Local Hero Recounts Thwarting Woodbury Robbery

Photo: Michael Ventricelli

When an alleged thief snatched purses from two women sitting outside Butera’s Restaurant on Wednesday, he probably expected a smooth getaway.

But that didn’t happen.

After Anthony Q. Grant, 24, grabbed the pocketbooks off the table and ran away, he was pursued by several witnesses, police said.

Grant entered a 2008 Cadillac that was stopped at a traffic light and told the driver to flee. The driver refused, and Grant placed his hand on the accelerator, police said.

The witnesses chasing Grant tried to get him out of the car as it lurched onto the curb. There were close to 10 people trying to grab him when Syosset High School graduate Michael Ventricelli arrived.

The 26-year-old Woodbury resident was driving from Syosset High School toward Jericho Turnpike when he saw the truck veer off the curb into the street.

He asked a woman who was walking her dog what was happening. Once the situation became clear to him, Ventricelli bolted to the car. “I didn’t even think twice,” he said.

Ventricelli said he saw the criminal in the middle of the truck’s seats.

“People were trying to grab him and this woman was screaming. She was terrified,” he told Patch. “I opened the door, punched him in his face and pinned him to the seat.”

He had Grant in a headlock inside the car for about 10 minutes until police arrived.

Ventricelli said he has no previous fighting experience, but his instincts kicked in at the right time.

“It was a completely impulsive thing I did,” he said. “I was sticking up for the people.”

Grant was arrested and charged with two counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree and reckless endangerment in the second degree, according to police.

“He ran through the wrong crowd that day.”

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