That’s when Deshawn Pressley sprang to action. Pressley heard Goins shout, saw a man with a purse dash by and sprinted after the suspect, tackling him in the parking lot.
Goins got her purse back and the suspect, Derek Vaughn, was arrested by Butler County Sheriff’s deputies who arrived after Pressley’s “citizen’s arrest.”
Pressley, Goins and Sheriff Richard Jones were live for a segment that also featured store video of the chase.
Goins and Pressley recounted the incident and stated they have scheduled a dinner date soon at IHOP.
Pressley said in the television interview that he had no hesitation to intervene: ”I knew I had to get her purse back because of the yell and screaming. I knew it wasn’t nice. I had to do what I had to do.”
Goins said Pressley is her hero.
“I think it’s great on his part,” she said during the interview.
The sheriff said what Pressley did is a “citizen’s takedown.”
“Look, he not only stopped him. The guy that stole the purse (it was) probably the first time in his life he was anxious for the police to get there,” Jones said.
Vaughn, 58, is charged with robbery, a third-degree felony, and theft, which is a fifth-degree felony because of the victim’s age.
Following a preliminary hearing last week in Middletown Municipal Court, Judge James Sherron found sufficient evidence to bind the case over to a grand jury. Vaughn is now housed in the Butler County Jail in lieu of $55,000 bond.
In an interview a day after the incident, Goins told the Journal-News, “I had just turned into that aisle when he grabbed my purse.”
Goins said it was like time froze, but she managed to let out a scream.
“I just screamed ‘he stole my purse.’ And I was loud,” she said.
Pressley was shopping with his family including his young daughter. He heard the scream. His daughter’s mother saw a man run by with a purse. That’s when he started running, too.
The 27-year-old Middletown man said the suspect was nearly inside a running vehicle when he was able to wrestle him to the ground.
Others came to Pressley’s aid as the struggle continued.
“Two other guys saw him fighting me. They said, ‘nah, wait a minute, we have to get this guy down.’” Pressley said. He said people formed a circle around him as he tried to keep the suspect down.
Lots of shoppers gathered in the parking lot — even the women, Goins remembered.
“I think I emptied out the store,” she said. “They were making a statement by their presence. I am very thankful.”
Goins identified Vaughn as the man who took her purse.
She said, “I had a few choice words for him that can’t be repeated.”
Pressley said as Vaughn was trying to break free, he kept saying he didn’t want to go back to jail.
“I was like, ‘I am sorry Sir, you picked the wrong day and the wrong store,” Pressley said.
Credit: Submitted photo
Credit: Submitted photo
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