Shopper tackles man who took 87-year-old’s purse inside Kroger in Ohio, video shows

A Kroger shopper has been referred to as a hero after tackling a man who stole an 87-year-old woman’s purse inside the grocery store.

The incident occurred this month at a Kroger in Ohio and led to the arrest of Derek Vaughn, according to Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones.

Jones said Vaughn took the woman’s purse and ran through the store with it as he was being chased.

“You have a million thoughts. You think, ‘This can’t be happening. Not to me,’” the victim, Pat Goins, told WLWT. “And then I screamed, ‘He stole my purse!’”

Jones compared the incident to people having their pitchforks out, as the shoppers who witnessed the theft “were angry as hell.”

The “terrible mistake” Vaughn made, according to Jones, was thinking he could escape without others coming to the aid of Goins.

“I seen him run right past me, and after I seen him run past me, I ran after him,” Deshawn Pressley said, according to WKRC. “God wasn’t letting me let this guy get away.”

Video shared by local outlets shows Vaughn exiting the store and getting to the parking lot before being tackled by Pressley, who punches and kicks the purse snatcher.

Another good Samaritan then grabs the purse Vaughn dropped as he was being tackled.

Police later arrived and took Vaughn into custody after the “citizen’s arrest.” The crowd also made Vaughn apologize to the 87-year-old woman, the sheriff said.

“What a piece of work,” Jones said of Vaughn. “You come to this county and you do these kind of atrocities, you do these low-life things. ... This 87-year-old woman can be your mother, your sister, can be your aunt, your wife, and they prey on these people. They look for people that are senior citizens ... and they take advantage of them.”

Pressley said the minor scratches on his arm were worth it in coming to the woman’s rescue, according to WKRC.

Goins thanked Pressley and offered a comment to the man who stole her purse.

“I told him, I pointed at him and said, ‘You know, if you needed something, all you had to do was ask,’” Goins said, WLWT reported.

Vaughn was charged with robbery and theft, according to WXIX.

This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Shopper tackles man who took 87-year-old’s purse inside Kroger in Ohio, video shows."