Not only did Eileen Tart catch a would-be robber, she tackled him as well.
The 70-year-old was in a restroom at a Kroger in Jonesboro when a man came in and snatched her purse, Channel 2 Action News reported. The incident happened Dec. 16.
Tart was doing some last minute shopping when she parked her cart, went into the restroom and entered a stall.
Not long after she went inside, a man entered the restroom and placed his hand under her stall.
“I didn't hear one sound,” Tart told Channel 2. “I didn't hear the door open, I didn't hear footsteps I just see this arm reach under.”
Tart ran out of the restroom and chased the man, 54-year-old Vincent Riobo, down an aisle and tackled him.
“And he's trying to shake me off, saying: ‘don't touch me,’ ‘I'll sue you,’ ‘You're harassing me,’” Tart said. “You know, just non-sense. All non-sense.”
When police and management arrived, Channel 2 reported, Riobo told a completely different story.
Riobo said he’d accidentally grabbed the wrong cart that had a purse in it and tried apologizing to Tart.
But when Tart’s granddaughter asked to have the security tapes pulled, Riobo’s cover was blown.
“I'm just not the one,” Tart said. “I'm not the one to be messed with.”
Police took Riobo, a former Clayton County court administrator to jail on robbery and exploitation of an elderly person charges. He remained in jail on $15,000 bond.
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