Local News in Brief : 3 Capture 300-Pound Purse-Theft Suspect

Three witnesses to a purse-snatching Wednesday in Encino chased and wrestled down a 300-pound suspect and held him for more than half an hour until authorities arrived, Los Angeles police said.

Nina Dashevsky, 35, of Santa Monica was walking on Ventura Boulevard near the corner of Sherman Oaks Avenue when the burly man took her purse and began to run, Officer Ron Coie said. Dashevsky immediately began screaming for help, he said.

Three men--a gas station manager, a motorist who had stopped for gas and a businessman driving from a meeting--ran after the thief and caught him moments later, Coie said. In the struggle that followed, the purse snatcher suffered a broken shoulder and facial cuts, the officer said.

“We had to hold him for about 35 minutes. It was brutal,” said the businessman, Robert Dunbar, 26, of Redondo Beach.

Police arrested Scott Joseph Becker, 26, of San Diego on suspicion of grand theft, Coie said. He was being held Wednesday night at Van Nuys Jail.

Dashevsky received her purse back, its contents intact, Coie said.

“I wish it would happen more often,” Coie said of the three men’s reaction to the crime. “Most people don’t get involved.”