Purse snatch leads good Samaritans to take action at coffee shop

(6/14/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Three good Samaritans come to the aid of a west Houston woman who had her purse snatched while having coffee at a River Oaks Starbucks.

Gloria Alvarez had just dropped her children at camp Thursday morning and settled into a chair at Starbucks with a good book. Then her peaceful morning was interrupted as a thief ran off with her purse.

"I just screamed a high pitched horrible, girly scream," she said.

The man ran right past Rob Robertson.

"I just heard [a scream and saw] a man grab a purse and head out the door," he said.

Robertson jumped up, following Gloria and two more good Samaritans who chased the thief out the door. They all ended up at the thief's car that was still running.

"I was holding on, he took off, I fell, he rolled over me with the tire," Alvarez said.

Both Alvarez and Robertson have bruises. Robertson got the license plate number from the car and even broke the auto's mirror off.

"They had grabbed him. They were jamming him into the door," Robertson said. "I started banging on the window, not the smartest thing in the world."

The modest businessman says the other two men deserve more credit.

While the thief got away, Alvarez got her purse back Thursday afternoon after it was found along a Heights area street.

Police recovered Alvarez's empty cell phone case and wallet, plus keys and glasses. She says she will likely use a fanny pack more often and shares her story as a warning to women.

"Be vigilant," she warned. "If you are sitting in a big chair, tuck it behind you. Wrap it around your ankle."

But she is also a witness to the world that sometimes bad news brings good.

"It could if you weren't, destroy your faith in humanity, but the actions of everyone around me restored it," Alvarez said.

Alvarez would like to find the other two good Samaritans so she can thank them. She says she knows one only by Mr. Delagarza.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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