Police: Twin River patron, 61, chases after purse snatcher

By JON BAKER

LINCOLN  — There’s a 61-year-old Taunton woman who can tell you that, while visiting Twin River, one should never lose sight of her purse.

In the span of a few seconds early Sunday morning, such happened to the feisty Bay Stater, though she quickly reclaimed her bag while also “assisting” in the nabbing of Emily Gregory, 21, of 59 Tall Timber Dr., Harrisville.
At 2:30 a.m., police arrested Gregory on a misdemeanor larceny charge, and later released her with a summons to appear at Sixth District Court in Providence on Aug. 22.
According to Police Chief Brian Sullivan, the victim had been playing a video lottery terminal when she noticed her pocketbook was missing. As she searched at people around her, she “observed a young female carrying her pocketbook, so she went over to her and grabbed it from the suspect,” Sullivan said. “She also followed the woman toward the North Entrance doorway, and notified security as to what had happened.
“Security Officer Arthur Smick then followed the suspect outside,” he added. “She got into her vehicle, but (Smick) wouldn’t let her leave, and he contacted our officers.”
When Patrolmen Ryan Laboissonniere and Richard Bousquet, both working uniformed details at the casino, arrived, they conducted a brief investigation.
“Upon finding Ms. Gregory had in fact taken the pocketbook, they placed her under arrest and transported her back to the station for processing,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if you could call the suspect’s actions egotistical, but it certainly wasn’t a situation for the ‘Lost & Found’ department.
“Obviously, we’ve had incidents in the past where a pocketbook was stolen at Twin River, even where it was taken while right next to a woman,” he added. “But what makes this so unusual is that the victim saw a suspect strolling away from the scene with her own personal belonging, and went after it. The good news was that she got it back right away.”