Off-duty officer thwarts purse-snatching attempt

DUXBURY, Mass. — An off-duty Duxbury Police officer was at the right place at the right time this past weekend.

Officer Mike Bolze and his wife had gone out for what they thought was your regular, run-of-the-mill dinner at Plaza Azteca in Hingham on Saturday night.

During dinner, Officer Bolze noticed a suspicious man approach a group of women at the restaurant. According to the officer, he then noticed the man reach behind one of the women's chairs and take a purse from the pocket of a jacket that had been draped over the chair.

"I went up to her and I just said, 'Excuse me, do you mind looking in your jacket? I think someone might have just stolen something from you.'" Officer Bolze said.

As the man quickly made his way out of the restaurant, Officer Bolze chased after him, following him all the way out to the parking lot. Officer Bolze identified himself as a police officer but the man kept running.

"I confronted him, said, 'Hey, I’m an off duty police officer.'" Bolze said. "I said, 'Give me the purse back,' at which point he ran quickly through the parking lot."

After a brief chase, the man ran to a car that had been standing by and jumped onto the passenger side. The car sped off, nearly hitting several pedestrians in the lot.

Related: Friday night armed robbery leaves one shot in Lowell

The suspect threw the purse out the car as he and the driver fled the scene. The purse was promptly returned to its rightful owner and all of the victim's belongings were accounted for.

"I think I confronted him so quickly he never had time to go thru her stuff," Officer Bolze said. "So she had nothing missing, and it was a good outcome."

The victim was grateful and relieved. Officer Bolze returned to his dinner with a round of applause from diners.

"It was a good ending, and it was a good meal," the officer said.

Officer Bolze gave Hingham Police a description of the car, a late model black Cadillac Escalade and was able to give them a license plate number, which showed it was a rental.

Hingham Police continue to investigate this incident.

Cox Media Group