Good Samaritans Chase Down Would-Be Purse Thief In NW OKC

An Oklahoma City man accused of attacking an elderly woman turns himself in to police late Tuesday afternoon. Corey West, 25, was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on robbery charges. 

The Police report states the thief grabbed the woman's purse, but that's when two Good Samaritans came to the rescue and started chasing him down.

It happened at The Invitational Apartment complex near NW 122nd and Portland on Friday evening. The woman, who is 80 years old, was just going to get her mail when the thief knocked her over and grabbed her purse.

“I'm just fine, just fine,” said the woman.

She did not want to show her face or give her name. But she does want to thank the people who came to her rescue.

Mike and Magen Stevens were out walking their dog Friday evening outside the apartment complex when they found her lying on the sidewalk over by the mailboxes.

“Torn cardigan, bump on her head, yelling, ‘Get the purse! Get the purse!'” said Magen Stevens. “So we looked at each other and we took off.”

They chased the thief through the complex, around the tennis courts, and into the north parking lot.

“I was in flip-flops,” said Mike Stevens. “And I wasn't very fast.”

“And I was like, ‘Get him Mike!'” said Magen Stevens. “And I'm yelling for the dog to come, and I'm screaming as loud as I can, getting attention. And he finally drops everything. And it's all thanks to Mike.”

The couple didn't catch the crook, but they did get the 80-year-old woman her purse and all of her stuff back. She says she's still in shock and has a bump on her head, but is otherwise alright.

Though police did not find the thief at the complex, he accidentally left a clue behind on how to find him.

“At this time that individual has not yet been arrested,” said Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow with the Oklahoma City Police Department. “We do hope that happens very soon.”

The woman now calls Mike and Magen her guardian angels. They are just glad they were at the right place at the right time.

“My fellow human being needed help,” said Magen Stevens. “And someone took something that wasn't theirs. I didn't think. I just acted.”

Just at 6 p.m., Oklahoma City Police told News 9 that West had voluntarily turned himself in to authorities.