Suspect in 75 Purse Snatchings Killed by Police

An Inglewood man suspected of committing 75 purse snatchings and robberies at shopping centers over the last year was killed in a fusillade of police gunfire as he tried to flee from undercover officers outside a department store near Culver City, police said Wednesday.

Four officers from the Westside Major Crime Violators Task Force had staked out the Gemco store at 5750 Mesmer Ave. Tuesday when they spotted Steven M. Lincourt, 25, driving a stolen car in the parking lot, said Lt. Charles Higbie, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

After officers from the Los Angeles and Culver City police departments and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recognized Lincourt from a composite photograph, they identified themselves as police officers and ordered him to stop, Higbie said.

With his path blocked by the officers’ cars, the suspect ignored the order and attempted to escape by driving backward, Higbie said. Lincourt then began driving forward, and LAPD Officers Richard L. Henry, 34, and Richard J. Spellman, 34, along with Deputy Ricky N. Doan, 33, fired 11 rounds--one from a shotgun and 10 from service revolvers--at the suspect, Higbie said.

The police spokesman added that Lincourt, who was unarmed, sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso and died at the scene inside the stolen car. Higbie also said officers found evidence linking Lincourt to the earlier robberies, but he refused to discuss that evidence.

Reports of a helmeted man who grabbed purses from women shoppers before fleeing on a motorcycle began a year ago, Higbie said. Last July, he said, the thief began using stolen cars instead of a motorcycle.