2 San Diego Men Help Catch Suspect
Two San Diego residents who decided to get involved after hearing the screams of a woman helped capture a man suspected of purse-snatching Monday, San Diego Police Department spokesman Bill Robinson said.
Sia Smith, 50, of Point Loma, left work at 5:30 p.m. and was walking through a parking lot near 500 West Ash Street when a man going south broke into a run and grabbed her purse, Robinson said.
Smith pursued the man east on Ash, then north on Columbia Street but stopped when two other men ran past her and took up the chase, Robinson said.
The suspect dropped the purse a short distance later, but the two men--Gary Neil Berkeley and Charles E. Lavertwe--continued the chase and cornered the suspect in some tall weeds near the 1700 block of California Street near the train tracks.
Two police officers who had been flagged down found Johnny Edward Naungayan, 32, of North Park, hiding in the grass, Robinson said, adding that Naungayan was sweating and breathing heavily.
Police also found narcotics paraphernalia on Naungayan, who is being held in County Jail on suspicion of grand theft, Robinson said.
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