KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A young man and a teen were arrested after a string of crimes throughout Kent County, the Sheriff's Office says.
It all began Thursday afternoon when a group used a stolen car to snatch a purse from a Grand Rapids woman while she was loading up groceries in her car in the Sam's Club parking lot on Alpine Avenue.
The woman fell during the struggle and minorly hurt herself.
Her credit card was used within a half hour at the Meijer in Algoma Township. In the gas station of that Meijer location, one of the suspects, wearing a mask, opened a Rockford woman's car and stole her purse, too.
A Kent County detective later spotted the suspect car on the S-curve of US-131.
Wyoming police tried to pull the car over while it was in a restaurant's parking lot. The suspects tried to leave and rammed into the detective's car.
One suspect ran from the scene, but was arrested. Police say he is a 16-year-old boy from Wyoming who is lodged at the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center.
The suspect car got away from the restaurant. Police found it abandoned in Grand Rapids.
A 20-year-old man from Grand Rapids was later arrested on unrelated charges, but investigators were able to tie the cases together.
Police believe four total suspects are involved. Two are believed to be on the loose.
This is not the only case of purse snatchings in the area recently. Deputies say they've seen an increase in Kent County. They say teens, usually males, travel together in stolen vehicles wearing hoods and masks and search for victims in parking lots.
If you spot anything suspicious, you're asked to call the police.
Anyone with information on the outstanding suspect is also asked to contact the Kent County Sheriff's Office.
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