Cops: Teen charged in purse snatch of shopper in Plainview

A Plainview teenager was arrested Thursday after police said he tried to steal a 76-year-old woman's handbag.

Jake Sporn, 18, approached the woman about 1:30 p.m. as she pushed a shopping cart in the parking lot of Morton Village Plaza, 1054 Old Country Rd., in Plainview, Nassau County police said.

Sporn rammed the cart into the victim, ripped the handbag from her arm, and fled with it to Knowles Street, according to police.

A Good Samaritan heard the woman's cries for help, chased Sporn and held him until police arrived to arrest him. Police say the woman was not injured and her handbag was recovered.

Sporn was charged with first-degree robbery and was arraigned Friday in First District Court in Hempstead. Arraignment information was not immediately available.