Husband and wife make citizens arrest of purse snatcher at Kohl’s
Colonie NY Nov 20 2017 A retired NYPD officer and her husband jumped into action when they spotted a man stealing a woman’s purse at the Kohls department store on Central Avenue in Colonie.
The accused crook has been arrested and the man and his wife are now being hailed as heroes.
“All of a sudden, I heard a lady scream, ‘Stop him he’s got my purse, he’s got my purse!’,” Maryann Pietromonaco said.
Maryann Pietromonaco heard the commotion while browsing through the men’s department with her husband Wednesday evening just before 7pm.
“It was a grayish silver pocket book that he had in his possession, and he turned to flee,” Pietromonaco said.
Immediately, her instinct to stop the guy kicked in, but the retired NYPD officer had her hands full, so she called out to her husband Cris Belzak.
“She just screamed “grab him” so I started running after him,” Belzak said.
Cris injured his side going after the purse snatcher, who at one point nearly got away. That’s when another bystander stepped in.
“There was another man he helped out and we tackled him to the ground,” Belzak said.
The suspect they stopped is 58-year-old Keith Patterson, who Colonie Police say already had a warrant out for his arrest in Bethlehem.
Maryann helped the men hold him down, until police arrived. But she gives them all the credit.
“Him and my husband they were really the heroes of last night because they stopped him,” Pietromonaco said.
Maryann and Cris were at the Kohls picking up Christmas decorations for their cozy Italian café called Venice at Twenty Two, located in Canojoharie.
Now, their customers are praising them, and the couple is urging other holiday shoppers to stay alert.
“That lady was thankful, that was her bag. It’s the holiday season, all your money it’s your credit cards, people have to be aware that this time of year this stuff happens,” Pietromonaco said.
The purse snatching suspect was charged with petit larceny and property damage. Police say his warrant out of Bethlehem was for criminal contempt, which police say usually means a violation of an order of protection.
