Springfield purse snatcher targeted three women in one hour, police say

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Police in Springfield are looking for a man who they believe was behind three separate purse-snatching incidents within one hour’s time Thursday night.

Sgt. John Delaney told 22News that the first incident happened around 7:05 P.M. in the parking lot of the Breckwood Shops plaza at Breckwood Boulevard and Wilbraham Road. The victim, a 22 year-old woman, told police that she was walking through the parking lot when a white man, between 6’0” and 6’3” tall, came and took her purse before making a getaway down Breckwood Boulevard.

Around 7:20, Delaney says that a man matching the same description tried to grab the purse of a woman at the Haymarket Square parking lot on Boston Road. Witnesses told police the suspect left the area in a dark-colored late model Toyota or Mazda.

In the third incident, which happened around 7:50, the suspect came up to a woman waiting for the bus at the Kohl’s parking lot on Boston Road, struck her in the face, and ripped her purse from her shoulder. Delaney says that the victim was with her young daughter at the time of the attack.

The suspect was seen leaving in an older-model red car with a loud muffler.

According to Delaney, the suspect was wearing all black, baggy clothes. He is described as having a neck tattoo and some facial hair. If you have any information, or see anyone matching this description in the Boston Road/Pine Point area, you are asked to call 9-1-1.

Police are advising women to keep their purses in the trunk of their cars while they are shopping.