Two Navy Officers Face Theft Charges

Two U.S. Navy officers accused of purse-snatching have returned to the United States, but will be tried in absentia in an Italian civilian court, a Navy spokesman said Friday.

Lt. Paul A. Thomson, 28, and Lt. Helvin A. Rodriguez, 30, both helicopter pilots from Norfolk, Va., were arrested Tuesday in downtown Naples after allegedly accosting a woman and stealing her purse.

The officers spent the night in jail, said Cmdr. Mike John, a spokesman for the U.S. 6th Fleet in Naples.

The two airmen said they had talking with the woman and her male companion, and were entrapped by her, according to John.