3 Rob Blind Woman; Citizens Nab Them

Three teen-agers snatched a purse from the wheelchair of a blind woman who was being pushed by her 7-year-old son, but passers-by jumped from their cars and caught the youths, police said.

The rescuers, one of whom double-parked the school bus he was driving to join the chase, returned the purse and money it contained to Deann Heath, 32, said Police Sgt. Ted Hansen.

Brian James, 29, a 6-foot, 5-inch, 220-pound karate enthusiast, said he “flipped” when he saw the boys take the purse Friday from Heath’s wheelchair as she was being pushed near St. Genevieve’s Church on Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City.

“They threw the purse in another yard and were walking down the street throwing the money in the air. I just wanted them. I didn’t care what it took,” he said.

James and two others chased the boys, ages 15, 16 and 17, for half a mile and caught up with them behind a pizza store where they were forced to wait for police.