Chickasaw police arrested two suspects early one Thursday morning after a woman reported that her purse had been torn from her hands while she was walking home before dawn.
Officers took a 20-year-old Mobile resident, identified as Joshua Lendarius Epps Jr., and an unnamed juvenile into custody around 5 a.m., both facing charges of second-degree robbery. The juvenile also faced an additional charge of third-degree receiving stolen property. Epps was later booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail, while the juvenile suspect was taken to the Strickland Youth Center.
Victim Tracked the Getaway Car
According to Chickasaw police, the incident began about an hour before the arrests when the victim was knocked to the ground near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Jacona Street. One of the suspects snatched her purse and fled on foot. Rather than losing sight of him, the woman followed closely enough to watch him jump into a waiting vehicle, which then sped away. She was able to write down the car’s license plate number and provide a description to responding officers.
Using that information, police located the vehicle nearby on the 60 block of 10th Avenue and found both suspects in the area. During a post-arrest interview, investigators determined that Epps had served as the getaway driver while the juvenile carried out the actual purse snatching. The victim later identified the juvenile as her attacker in a police lineup.
Investigators recovered the stolen purse inside a trash bin in front of the business where Epps worked. While searching that business, officers also found a .223-caliber rifle that had been reported stolen from the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office months earlier, adding a separate line of investigation to the case.
Epps was released on bond following his arrest, with a court date set for later in the month. Chickasaw police credited the victim’s quick thinking in tracking the getaway vehicle’s license plate as a key factor in identifying and locating both suspects so soon after the robbery occurred.