Crime & Safety

Walmart Purse Snatcher Foiled Thanks to Victim, Witness: Police

Diego Anguiano-Aguardo told Joliet police he went into the store with the intent of stealing money, Cmdr. Al Roechner said.

A Joliet man's attempt to steal a woman's purse while she shopped at Walmart Thursday night was blocked when the woman and a witness chased him out of the store, Joliet police said.

The incident occurred at about 8:25 p.m. when Diego Anguiano-Aguardo, 19, 512 N. Chicago St., approached a woman in the 2424 W. Jefferson St. store and took the purse she had left in the child seat of her shopping cart, Cmdr. Al Roechner said.

The woman ran after the suspect as did another woman, and Anguiano-Aguardo ended up dropping the purse and all of its contents in the store's parking lot before fleeing in a gold Honda, Roechner said. The second woman gave police a description of the car, which police stopped on eastbound Jefferson at the Larkin Avenue, he said.

The victim and the witness identified the suspect at the scene, and Anguiano-Aguardo later told investigators he'd gone into the store with the intent of stealing some money, Roechner said.

Anguiano-Aguardo was arrested and charged with burglary and theft. He is being held in the Will County jail pending a bond hearing.


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