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Video: Grandmother Chases Down Purse Snatcher
NBC 13 ^ | 3/3/2009 | NBC 13

Posted on 03/03/2009 12:27:27 PM PST by Dallas59



A 65-year-old Texas grandmother says she chased down a man who had just snatched her purse, hit him with her car and held him until police arrived.

“I was madder than hell is what I was,“ Val Renfro said. “I didn’t think about anything else except, ‘He’s not going to get away with this.‘“

Renfro had just finished shopping at Office Depot in East Fort Worth on Sunday afternoon and was getting in her car when Ricky Lee Sample stole her purse.

“The next thing I know, somebody just blindsided me,“ Renfro said.

She grabbed her cell phone, which she carries in her bra, and called 911 as he fled.

“Someone just grabbed my purse out of the car,“ she told the operator. “I’m going to chase him down.“

Renfro said she got in her car and screeched out of the parking lot.

She spotted the man in front of a nearby movie theater.

Her confrontation with the man was recorded in her 911 call.

“Where’s my purse?“ she yelled. “You give it to me now. I got the police on the phone right now. You give me my purse.“

Sample tried to walk away.

“And I thought, ‘I’m going to lose this man, and the police aren’t here,‘“ Renfro said. “So he got right in front of my right fender, and I just pushed on the gas.“

She said he flipped up in the air.

“I hit him,“ she told the 911 operator.

Sample kept running, she said.

Like a scene out of a movie, customers leaving the theater joined in the chase.

“Now there’s others chasing him,“ Renfro told the 911 operator.

Jason Hughes, who was at the movie theater, said it was “pretty crazy.“

“When somebody says she just got robbed, and you see a guy running at you with a purse, it’s kind of like the first reaction,“ he said.

Several other people also joined in and corralled the man.

“They’ve got him,“ an excited Renfro told the operator.

Police arrived minutes later and arrested Sample in connection with the theft.

Sample, 47, has previously been convicted of thefts, burglaries and drug possession.

“I’m lucky,“ Renfro said. “I’m very, very lucky that no one was hurt and that I got my purse back.“

Later, when she saw the man again outside the police station on his way to jail, he apologized, Renfro said.

“Apology accepted,“ she replied. “God bless you.“


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: fortworth; purse; snatcher; texas
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To: Dallas59

Good for you, baby! But now just watch the ambulance chasers go to work on her. Or maybe not. If she just demands an immediate jury trial, in Texas she wind up with a medal.


21 posted on 03/03/2009 1:05:48 PM PST by Oldpuppymax (AGENDA OF THE LEFT EXPOSED)
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To: VRWCmember

Member of your family? I love this story, except for the part where she admits on a recorded line that she hit him.


22 posted on 03/03/2009 1:12:24 PM PST by secret garden (Dubiety reigns here)
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To: Dallas59
Ricky Lee Sample

Why do people continue to give their sons the middle names of 'Lee' and 'Wayne'. Don't they realize that it will doom them?

23 posted on 03/03/2009 1:22:25 PM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution - 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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To: Dallas59

Conservatives cheer this type of story, but the RATS will soon have this woman up on charges. Chasing a fleeing felon and assaulting him with a deadly weapon. In NY they would charge her with attempted murder, the robber would become the victim and sue her for a million bucks. Hopefully the DA will not charge her.


24 posted on 03/03/2009 1:23:16 PM PST by Hacklehead (Liberalism is the art of taking what works, breaking it, and then blaming conservatives.)
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To: xsmommy

Is your phone ringing or are you just happy to see me?


25 posted on 03/03/2009 1:25:09 PM PST by VRWCmember
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To: Dallas59

Great story!! This what we need to do to the perp running away with our money, named Obama.

Kick tail, take names, send ‘em to jail.


26 posted on 03/03/2009 2:21:11 PM PST by wizr ( Now, look what they've done, Stanley!)
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To: Dallas59

Actually the perp was very lucky. It could have been one our fine Texas Second Amdendment Sisters, or other armed females, the he’d have gotten more than just bumbed by a car.


27 posted on 03/04/2009 5:22:31 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: Responsibility2nd
"Hey. That lady's boobs are ringing!"

If you watch the video, you'll see she carries the phone under the right side strap, not in one of the cups or between them.

28 posted on 03/04/2009 5:25:39 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: secret garden
She could have lawfully shot him. What's the big deal about bumping him with her vehicle? Texas' "Use of legal force" laws don't say anything about the instrument used.

IIRC we also have laws preventing perps injured during the commission of a crime from suing their would be victims, or anyone who comes to the aid of said victims.

29 posted on 03/04/2009 5:28:58 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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