2 Witnesses Chase Down Purse-Snatching Suspect

Seeing a woman struggling with a purse snatcher Tuesday morning made Louis Gonzalez and Jose Vargas angry. So, when the assailant grabbed the purse, got into his car and sped off, the two Pacoima youths jumped into their van and followed.

They chased the man, careening around corners, until they forced him to pull his car over and drop the purse. Then they pursued him on foot, running through backyards and climbing fences until the San Fernando police arrived.

Thanks to Gonzalez, 18, and Vargas, 19, the police arrested a suspect, Leonard Brown, 27, of Pacoima. And Hilda Renteria, 35, a Pacoima housewife, got her purse back.

‘I Thank God’

“I thank God they do that for me. They are wonderful,” Renteria said after having $43, her checkbook, credit cards and pictures of her children returned to her.

Brown was taken to the San Fernando Jail on suspicion of robbery, Detective Ernie Halcon said.

“There’s no way we would have caught him without their help,” Halcon said. “They risked a lot. Most street robbers are armed.”

Gonzalez, a woodworker who graduated last year from San Fernando High School, and his friend Vargas, who hopes to become a police officer someday, said they weren’t afraid, just angry.

“We don’t like people doing that to other people, said Vargas, a senior at Van Nuys High School. Added Gonzalez: “He didn’t earn the money, and the lady is scared half to death and this guy is going to go and snatch it away from her? It’s totally wrong. “

Were Running Errand

Gonzalez and Vargas said their adventure started at about 9:30 a.m. while they were running an errand for Gonzalez’s mother at the Boys Market, 2040 Glenoaks Blvd. They heard Renteria yell, “Oh, my purse! Oh, my purse!” Gonzalez said.

“Everybody was just standing there. We looked around and thought, ‘Well, nobody’s going to do anything, so let’s get after this car.’ ” Gonzalez said.

The two 5-foot-10 youths said they jumped into the van and chased the 6-foot-3 ex-convict south on Glenoaks Boulevard. Honking and yelling, they pursued him to a side street and forced his vehicle to a curb, Halcon said.

The purse-snatcher got out, purse in hand, the two youths said.

“Give us the purse,” Gonzalez told him.

“I just want the money,” Gonzalez quoted the man as answering.

Gonzalez said he had some tense moments when the man reached into his car as if to get a gun.

“I started thinking, ‘Oh my God. That’s it. This is the end,’ ” But the man was just going for his car keys. When Vargas brandished a bumper jack, the man dropped the purse and ran.

The youths disabled the man’s car by removing its distributor coil, then drove around looking for him, giving up, finally, and returning the purse to Renteria.

Renteria’s face fell when she examined it, however. Her money and checkbook were still missing.

Deciding there was nothing more they could do, Gonzalez and Vargas headed for home, but they decided to drive down Glenoaks Boulevard just in case. Almost immediately they saw the man walking down the street, Vargas said. Seeing them, he jumped over a wall, but they followed, splitting up to chase him on foot. They were joined by neighbors who heard their shouts and came to help, Gonzalez said.

Police officers, alerted to the incident, arrested Brown in the backyard of a home in the 400 block of Lazard Street, Halcon said.

Vargas was blase about his adventure. “It makes a Tuesday go faster,” he said.