A man who deputies say stole a purse from a woman was arrested Monday after a K-9 tracked him down.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office says a 71-year-old woman was opening her car door to leave the Dollar General at 19552 SW 56th Lane when a man, later identified as 26-year-old Mathew Barrett Tharin, ran up behind her, forcefully removed her purse and ran away.
Deputies said three witnesses tried to detain Tharin, but he got away, and they saw him get on a green bicycle and leave.
A K-9 unit was called to the scene, and investigators said K-9 Pyro tracked Tharin through a wooded lot and eventually to a residence on SW 60th Street, where deputies found the green bicycle near a shed.
K-9 Pyro continued to track Tharin and led deputies directly to a camper trailer in the backyard where Tharin was inside, deputies said.
The Sheriff’s Office said eyewitnesses positively identified Tharin as the purse-snatching suspect. He was arrested and charged with robbery by sudden snatching without a firearm or weapon-victim over 65 years of age.