Woman Chases Down Purse Thief In Midtown Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Police are on the hunt for two suspects behind a purse snatching in midtown Sacramento. This time, the would-be victim fought back.

"I realized I'm being mugged. I don't know what she has on her, so I'm just going to let go," said Mariah Ramana.

Ramana was walking home in midtown Sunday night when two women got physical and grabbed her purse.

"I didn't want to challenge her on it. I let go and I watched her and her friend run down the block," she said. "Luckily, I had my phone in my hand."

Ramana only had seconds to decide what to do next.

"I just told them 'drop my purse or you're going to jail. The cops are on their way,' " she said.

The two women then split up. That's when Ramana made the split-second decision to chase down the woman who still had her purse.

After about three blocks, the suspect threatened Ramana's life.

"She said, 'back up or I'll shoot you,' and I said 'you don't have a gun,' " said Ramana.

Ramana didn't back down and continued after the suspect.

"I put my shoulder out and got her mid-back, and she fumbled forward and hit the ground and dropped my purse, so I grabbed it," she said.

The suspect then took off. Ramana picked up her purse and took off in the other direction.

This crime comes after a recent spike in midtown robberies in December, which prompted Sacramento police to step up patrols.

"We put extra officers out in the areas where these were occurring and we put extra officers out when they were occurring," said Sacramento police Sgt. Matt Young.

Since then, police have seen a decline in robberies. Only three incidents were reported in the last five weeks, including Ramana's.

Ramana thinks it's unusual the suspects were women and knows what she did was risky, but is happy to have her purse and its contents back.

"I don't want to encourage anyone to attack their assailant," she said. "I don't want to encourage that at all."

Police are still looking for the suspects.