Man charged in Albany purse-snatch robbery outside bar
A reader alerted Albany Scanner after hearing calls for help.
A man is facing robbery charges after grabbing a woman's purse on San Pablo Avenue in Albany on Wednesday night, records show.
A reader told Albany Scanner the incident unfolded after two women left Club Mallard at 752 San Pablo Ave.
"A man snatched one of their purses as they left the Mallard, then she chased him down and confronted him while her friend called the cops and got the car," the reader said.
"We heard her outside calling for help and went out in time to witness three police cars pulling up and arresting the man. Just thought that was very brave of her."
Albany police said officers responded to a "purse-snatch robbery" on San Pablo Avenue just after 9:20 p.m. It took place in the 700 block of San Pablo at Club Mallard, according to APD records.
The suspect grabbed a woman's purse and ran away, authorities said.
"Officers arrived quickly, arrested the suspect a short distance away, and recovered the victim's purse," police said in response to a Scanner inquiry. "We're thankful this ended safely and that the property was returned."
The man was identified as 31-year-old Austin Collier, records show.
According to court papers, Collier tried to flirt with the woman and got "aggressive" when she said she wasn't interested. Then he followed her to her car and yanked her $400 tote bag off her shoulder, police wrote.
Officers found him at Madison and Castro streets, several blocks away, they wrote.
Collier has no prior arrests or cases in Alameda County, according to court records. He's from El Cerrito, police said.
As of publication time, he was no longer in custody. He was set for arraignment Friday morning at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
How many robberies in Albany, CA, this year?
Violent crime is rare in Albany.
There have been at least eight robberies in the city this year, according to online police data posted by the department.
(Two sensitive or juvenile cases are not part of the posted dataset for privacy reasons, the department said shortly after publication.)
Three of the robberies took place on San Pablo Avenue. Three others took place at Target.
- Jan. 7: Goodwill store, 500 block of San Pablo Avenue, 6:18 p.m.
- Jan. 17: Target, 1000 block of Eastshore, 7:49 a.m.
- Jan. 17: Target, 1000 block of Eastshore, 3:34 p.m.
- Feb. 13: 1400 block of Solano Avenue, 11:29 p.m.
- Feb. 18: Max's Liquors, 800 block of San Pablo Avenue, 11:02 a.m.
- April 7: Target, 1000 block of Eastshore, 2:30 p.m.
- Aug. 1: 500 block of Pierce Street, 5 p.m.
- Sept. 16: Club Mallard, 700 block of San Pablo Avenue, 9:23 p.m.
Last year, there were seven robberies over the same period and at least 15 throughout the year.
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Note: The statistics section was updated after publication to include slightly more detailed information as it became available. The suspect's city of residence was also added to the story after publication.
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