Police: Accused purse-snatcher caught in Fairborn

UPDATE @ 10:55 p.m. (April 10):

A man accused of an Easter purse-snatching was caught tonight in Fairborn after he eluded police for more than four hours and led multiple jurisdictions on high-speed pursuits.

Andrew Shaw, 33, of Xenia, was nabbed just a few minutes before 9:40 p.m. by Fairborn police after a brief pursuit, according to Kettering police.

Shaw was booked into the Greene County Jail tonight, online jail records show.

A warrant was issued for Shaw’s arrest earlier this week by the Kettering Police Department following a strong-arm robbery Sunday in a Meijer parking lot. A felony case was filed Thursday against Shaw, online Kettering Municipal Court records show.

Kettering police said there was a similar purse-snatching today from a Meijer store parking lot in Huber Heights, and that Shaw was a suspect in that case as well.

Shaw spent much of the evening running from police in a stolen white cargo van.

“He’s definitely a danger to society,” said Kettering police Lt. Michael Gabrielson.

During today’s Huber Heights robbery, Shaw allegedly dragged his victim as he stole her purse.

A chase began tonight shortly before 5:30 p.m. when police in Miami Twp. spotted a white Chevrolet van in a Walmart parking lot that matched the description of the suspect in the strong-arm robberies on Easter and earlier today, police said.

The suspect, who apparently would not stop for police, gave chase up Far Hills Drive, traveling through Centerville, Kettering, Dayton and Harrison Twp.

Then, Shaw was spotted at the Sam’s Club lot in Butler Twp. Shaw allegedly was traveling at high speeds, between 70 and 100 mph, during various pursuits before they were called off.

“He’s driving such a way that’s putting everyone out there at risk,” Gabrielson said.

UPDATE @ 9:42 p.m. (April 10):

Andrew Shaw, 33, of Xenia, was nabbed just a few minutes before 9:40 p.m. by Fairborn police after a brief pursuit, according to Kettering police.

He was wanted in two strong-arm robberies: one on Easter at a Kettering Meijer, and one today at a Huber Heights Meijer, police said.

UPDATE @ 2:15 p.m. (April 10):

Kettering police identify a suspect they say snatched a woman’s purse on Easter.

Police say Andrew Shaw, 33, stole a woman’s purse in the parking lot of a Meijer store on Sunday while the woman was loading her groceries, according to the official Kettering Police Department’s Facebook post.

A felony warrant has been issued for Shaw’s arrest, according to KPD. According to a police dispatcher, the man is in the area.

FIRST REPORT (April 7):

Kettering police are looking for a purse-snatching suspect.

A woman reported on Easter that a man grabbed her purse out of her shopping cart as she was unloading her groceries at Meijer on Wilmington Pike.

Police say the man fled in a white Chevrolet cargo van toward Hempstead Station Road.

He is described as a white male wearing a T-shirt with a burr style haircut and a number tattoo near his left shoulder, according to police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Mason at 296-2583.