Police arrested a Torrance man for allegedly snatching a woman’s purse downtown this past summer.
On Sept. 30 Manhattan Beach police arrested Anderson Byrd, 19, outside his Torrance apartment after tracking him down using a stolen credit card that Byrd allegedly had used.
“He was initially deceptive, but became tripped up in a lie,” said MBPD Detective Michael Rosenberger.
On June 2, a 26-year-old Manhattan woman reported her purse stolen at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Eleventh Street, after a man grabbed her arm, simulated carrying a handgun and wrestled the bag from her. The man took off on foot and police have been searching for him since.
Byrd allegedly used one of the woman’s credit cards to purchase fuel at a gas station in Hawthorne, where police checked the store’s surveillance cameras.
“It took awhile but we found the time and pump the credit card was used on and found the guy pumping gas into a car with a license plate,” Rosenberger said. “We ran the plate and it led to the guy’s sister’s house.”
Rosenberger said that, more importantly, the suspect had also previously been pulled over while driving and cited for driving without a license, which also helped police track him down.
“People talk about trivial tickets, but that ticket led us to this suspect,” Rosenberger said.
Prosecutors filed a complaint against Byrd on Oct. 19 charging second degree robbery, identity theft and credit card fraud.
He posted $50,000 bond and faces the charges on Nov. 30.
The purse and its contents were not recovered.
“He said he took the phone and sold it, and threw the purse away,” Rosenberger said. ER
