A 13-year-old boy from Washington state was arrested earlier this month after allegedly snatching a woman’s purse at a Seattle pharmacy and punching her in the face when she confronted her, authorities said.
The incident, which occurred on April 6 in the 2600 block of SW Barton Street, was recorded on the pharmacy’s surveillance camera.
The video shows two teens approaching a woman near the entrance to the pharmacy, and one of them brushing the purse out of the woman’s hands.
When the woman chased the boy outside the store, the contents of her wallet were scattered on the sidewalk. In the video, other juveniles can be seen picking up fallen objects.
At one point in the video, the woman is seen confronting one of the young suspects, then raising her fist and punching the woman once in the face before walking away with the others.
According to the Seattle Police Department, officers responded to a report of a robbery.
The victim told police that an employee confronted a group of teens inside the store and accused them of not paying for items.
She described the purse snatching and reported that the boy grabbed her by the shirt, threw her to the ground, and then punched her in the face several times, police said.
Police later located the suspect and two other teens near Southwest 18th Avenue and Southwest Barton Street.
Video from the officer’s body camera shows him approaching the 13-year-old suspect.
“Am I in detention?” the teen asked.
The officer responded that he was in custody and told the boy that he was being arrested on suspicion of robbery.
“Robbery? Oh my god,” the teen is heard saying.
As officers tried to handcuff the suspect, the boy tried to run away, according to police footage. The suspect took just a few steps before officers grabbed him and handcuffed him.
The 13-year-old boy was arrested at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Child and Family Justice Center for investigation of the robbery. The other two teens were identified and released.
