Woman foils purse snatcher

A woman successfully fought off a purse snatcher Sunday night outside the Winco store on North Nevada and police quickly rounded up the man suspected in the attempted theft. The woman was walking to her car at 7:30 p.m. when a man grabbed her purse, but she was determined not to lose it, said Spokane Police officer Ben Green. “They ended up fighting over the purse,” he said. “She put up quite a fight.” The man’s car was moving as she tried to get her purse and she was able to hang on long enough to get it back. Numerous witnesses called 911 and the would-be thief was located near Nevada and Francis and briefly tried to escape before leaving his car running in a parking lot and making a run for it. Police arrested Brian D. Evelsizor, 26, and will charge him with attempting to elude police and felony robbery. Even though the woman was not injured, the assault during the course of a theft attempt bumped what would have been a minor theft charge to a felony. Though the woman was successful in getting her purse back, police do not recommend that victims try to retreive their property. “Better to just let it go and call police,” Green said.