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Invasion of the Purse Snatchers

Summary: A Beaver County couple is charged after a series of purse thefts. Reporter: David Highfield, KDKA Channel 2 Airtime: 2 minutes, 21 seconds on Dec. 3 Visuals: * One of the victims, as she holds the large, tote-style purse she boldly reclaimed from her alleged assailant. Highlights: * When anchor Ken Rice warns, “This is the season that thieves look for opportunities.” * When Highfield, who is standing in a vacant parking lot in Chippewa Township (sans purse) informs us, “In two of the cases, police say the women who were targeted had their purses in shopping carts. … Now, most of the women got their purses back, including the one you’re about to meet.” * When Highfield shows us, “This is the purse [one victim] almost lost when she was shopping at this Wal-Mart.” * When the female victim recalls, “They just came right by and she bumped me and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s OK,’ and they kept going and he just grabbed my purse out of the cart.” * When Highfield reports, “Police say it was this man — 23-year-old Joshua Rinaman — who grabbed the purse [she] left in her cart and then, he had handed it to 21-year-old Amber Mansell by the time [the victim] caught up with him.” * When the victim tells us, “I kind of jogged up to them and said, ‘Excuse me, you just took my purse,’ and she denied it. I saw it in her hand though, and she said, ‘Oh, sorry, it was on the floor,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s my purse,’ and I just snatched it right back off of her.” * When Highfield continues, “[P]olice say [Rinaman] stole a woman’s purse inside this Giant Eagle. Once again, the woman came after him, chasing him through the store until he dropped it.” * When Highfield adds, “And police say this snatching spree ended after another attempt at the Wal-Mart, when security chased him out and got a license plate number.” What We Learned: Let’s hear it for the fanny pack! Unanswered Question: Why don’t we ever hear about purse thieves who steal purses for the purse, which are often worth more than what money is inside of them? News Value: 5. If there was an upside to this, I guess it would be that at least no one was beating helpless, little old ladies. In fact, the real attention-getter here is the chutzpah of some of the victims, including the one interviewed. Otherwise, Highfield gives us the details straight-up, making for a cookie-cutter seasonal story.