Police say 23-year-old James Blankenship of Mt. Gilead grabbed a purse off the shoulder of a 26-year-old Bellville woman at the Richland Mall. He then jumped in a car driven by 44-year-old Kathleen Acosta of Galion.

According to police, the victim followed the getaway car, eventually taking her purse out of the vehicle while both cars were stopped in traffic.

Both suspects were arrested in Crestline after the victim called police. Both have been charged with robbery in connection with incident and are being investigated for an incident in a Wal-Mart robbery on December 17th.

A third suspect, 22-year-old Gregory Mendez of Salem, was also in the getaway car and was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Crawford County.

Investigators say the three are believed to have stolen purses in Marion from a woman outside of Kroger on December 15th and another woman outside of JoAnn Fabrics on December 18th.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Department issued an alert following the second incident.