22-Year-Old Snatches Woman's Purse Outside Riverhead ShopRite, Police Say

A man is facing robbery charges after allegedly stealing a woman’s purse outside a supermarket on Long Island.

A 22-year-old man is accused of robbing a woman outside a ShopRite store in Riverhead on Sunday, Oct. 29.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps street view*

10/31/2023 11:00 a.m.

The incident happened at around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at the ShopRite store in Riverhead, located on Old Country Road.

According to Riverhead Town Police, the 79-year-old victim was walking in the parking lot when a man confronted her and grabbed her purse.

The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Erick Contreras Guevara, of the hamlet of Flanders, eventually broke the handle and fled with the bag, police said.

Officers located Guevara a short time later at the DSW Shoes in the same shopping center.

He was arrested on suspicion of third-degree robbery, a felony, and obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.

The woman was not injured in the ordeal.

Detectives are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to contact the Riverhead Town Police Department at 631-727-4500.

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