JONESBORO, Ga. — A Jonesboro, Georgia, woman said she tackled a man who snatched her purse in a supermarket.
Eileen Tart said she ran after the man who snatched her purse from a bathroom stall inside a Kroger grocery store on Dec. 16.
The 70-year-old woman said she was doing last-minute shopping around 5 p.m. when she parked her cart and went to use the bathroom.
"I didn't hear one sound," Tart said. "I didn't hear the door open. I didn't hear footsteps. I just see this arm reach under."
Tart said she rushed out of the stall and came face to face with 54-year-old Vincent Riobo, who ran out of the stall and down an aisle in the store.
"And he's trying to shake me off, saying, ‘Don't touch me. I'll sue you. You're harassing me.’ You know, just nonsense. All nonsense," Tart said.
By the time store management, police and Tart's granddaughter gathered around the two at the front of the store, Riobo, who was confirmed by WSB-TV to be a former Clayton County court administrator, had a much different, convincing story -- that he'd accidentally walked off with a cart that had a purse in it.
"I said, 'Ma'am, here. I'm sorry. Take it back. I don't want it,'" Riobo said in cellphone video of the incident.
But after police looked at store surveillance, the evening ended with Riobo in handcuffs, still claiming his innocence.
"A good liar. A very good liar. He stalked me and he's a predator," Tart said.
Riobo remains in the Clayton County jail under a combined $15,000 bond. He is charged with robbery by sudden snatching and exploitation of an elderly person.
Cox Media Group
