Career Purse Snatcher Gets 20 Years for Grand Larceny
A Las Vegas man who was described by police as a one-man crime wave who snatched more than 1,000 purses a year has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
District Judge John Mendoza sentenced Willie Ormond, 34, to 10 years in prison Thursday on a grand larceny charge. He ordered that the sentence run consecutive to another 10-year prison term imposed a day earlier by District Judge Robert Rose in another grand larceny case.
Mendoza imposed the maximum sentence after Metro Police established that Ormond is a habitual criminal.
Officers estimate that he stole more than 1,000 purses a year, making his living by taking purses left between slot machines at casinos downtown and along the Las Vegas Strip.
“According to a reliable informant, Willie averaged three to four purse-snatches a night, five nights a week,” Metro Police Lt. Steve Raeder said.
Ormond’s arrest sheet is 6 1/2 feet long and shows 58 felony and 88 misdemeanor arrests.
Police report that Ormond has spent a total of nearly seven years in prison on 36 previous convictions.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
