Thief Jumps In The Hudson In Failed Effort To Escape Police, NYPD Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Police were able to catch one slippery thief after he tried to escape arrest by jumping into the Hudson River and floating downstream, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

Officers spotted the robber, who has not been identified, snatch a woman's purse on West 88th Street and Riverside Drive just after midnight on Monday, police told Patch. The cops chased the man toward the Hudson River shores, police said.

When they got to the river, the purse-snatcher dove into the water, police said. The officers called on the Emergency Services and Harbor Units for an assist and the thief ended up being apprehended while in the water, police told Patch.

The thief was arrested and taken to St. Luke's hospital as a precaution, an NYPD spokesman said. The man's charges are still pending, police told Patch.

Photo by Patch