Navy Vet Spots Purse-Snatching Punk Knocking 76-Year-Old Woman to the Ground — and Issues the Punk a Painful Lesson

Navy veteran Kendrick Taylor was on his way to the gym in Orange County, Florida, when he saw something that got his blood pumping much faster: A man attacking an elderly woman and trying to steal her purse.

Navy vet Kendrick Taylor (Image source: WESH-TV)

"What if that was my grandmother? She was screaming for help. That's when I ran over to help her," Kendrick Taylor told WESH-TV in Orlando. "When I looked down I didn't know if he had a knife or a gun. When I saw the lady was so old when he threw her down, she was so fragile...I knew she needed help."

So Taylor went right at the culprit in the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie on Wednesday.

The purse snatcher noticed he was about to get clobbered, tried to run away — but not quite fast enough as Taylor grabbed him and tackled him to the asphalt.

"When I finally got my hands on him, I just...told some local people to call the police and they got here and I kept him down," Taylor told WESH.

Image source: WESH-TV

John Zachary DesJardin, 23, who was on probation for unrelated offenses, was charged with attempted robbery and battery on a person 65 or older, WESH reported.

John Zachary DesJardin (Image source: WESH-TV)

"He definitely needs to face some jail time," Taylor offered to the station. "He has to know what he did was very wrong."

While the victim, 76-year-old Rosemary Carelton, suffered minor injuries and was traumatized, her niece told WESH the whole family is thankful Taylor and others intervened.