NEW ORLEANS — A man who police say stole a woman’s purse in the French Quarter, had to be rescued by the downtown ferry after he jumped into the Mississippi River trying to evade police chasing him.
As The Times-Picayune reports, it happened Wednesday morning in the 300 block of Royal Street.
Police say the suspect ran off with a woman’s purse. Workers at a nearby shop spotted the crime and followed the man while they called the police. Officers patrolling the French Quarter chased the man who jumped into the river to evade arrest. He eventually swam back to shore but when relentless officers closed in on him, he jumped back into the river but struggled to swim.
That is when the RTA ferry undocked and pulled the suspect out of the water. After paramedics treated the man, he was then arrested on one count of purse snatching.
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