This Is What Personal Responsibility – and Justice – Look Like in Action

Three men in Grand Rapids, Mich., worked together to detain a female purse-snatching suspect until police could arrive to make an arrest. The men pinned the suspect on the ground following an intense struggle while good Samaritans comforted the victim.

The entire ordeal was captured on video.

Screengrab via MLive.com

In an attempt to escape, the female suspect seems to bite one of the men detaining her, prompting him to strike her. "The suspect was initially stopped by a Jimmy John's bicycle delivery worker, and the men in the video helped tackle the suspect, witnesses said," according to MLive.com.

Meanwhile, a group of people gathered around the 75-year-old victim, Evelyn Searl, who had been eating lunch with her daughter when she was robbed. "They're coming right now," a woman says soothingly to the victim as another bystander places a sweater under her head. The victim was reportedly knocked over by the suspect, causing her to fall on her face.

Screengrab via MLive.com

The female suspect admits to snatching the old lady's purse at one point in the video. The only item of value in her bag was a camera valued at roughly $50, according to the victim's daughter.

“Dude, she’s rich! She’s eating at a restaurant,” the suspect says. “I didn’t break her nose. I snatched her purse. It was sitting on the table. I swear to God I wouldn’t hit her.”

A Grand Rapids Press reporter captured video of the incident. Watch the unedited clip below:

In the video, the suspect appears to bite Grand Rapids lawyer Jonathan Damon on the wrist -- he responds by delivering three punches to her head.

As Damon remains straddled on top of the suspect, the two can be heard arguing in a heated back-and-forth. She pleads with him that she "can't breathe," but Damon doesn't buy it and orders her to stop struggling.

When police eventually arrived, reportedly one minute after the video ends, the woman was arrested and placed in a squad car.

Searl plans to press charges against her mugger.

–

[related]