SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -
Some quick-thinking citizens helped nab an alleged would-be robber and purse snatcher in downtown Shreveport Friday.
It all went down just before Noon in the 300 block of Texas Avenue, when two men walked in to the Regions Bank and one of them handed the teller a note. Police say, for some reason, the men ran out of the bank before receiving any cash.
Once outside of the bank, one of the men, later identified as 38 year old Johnny Jackson, accosted 57-year-old Karleen Silvertooth, telling her he had a gun and wanted her purse. Police say Silvertooth refused and Jackson attacked her, physically taking her handbag."I wasn't letting go of them [purse straps]for nothing," says Silvertooth. "And he took his elbow and hit and knocked these two teeth out and pushed me to the ground and I fell on this hip."
Silvertooth says her social security check was in her purse at the time. She says she wouldn't be able to buy anything without it. "I wouldn't even have been able to pay for a loaf of bread."
Jackson fled the scene of the crime on foot, but not before a concerned citizen observed what was happening and gave chase. With the good samaritan in hot pursuit, Jackson fell down on Milam Street near Market Street where the citizen, assisted by another man, detained him.
"Fortunately, he had fallen down and was also very winded, so I just threw the truck in park, got out, retained him until this gentleman came up and helped me until the cops showed up," says Galen Light.
Shreveport Police Corporal Jerry Curtis, who was working an off-duty job nearby, heard the ruckus and immediately responded, taking Jackson into custody.
The other suspect is still at large. Ms. Silvertooth was transported to a local hospital by the Shreveport Fire department with non-life-threatening injuries.
Jackson, who does not have a home address, was booked into the Shreveport City Jail on one count of attempted first degree robbery and one count of second degree robbery.
The man shown in surveillance images released by police saw himself featured on the news and subsequently surrendered himself to detectives at the Shreveport Police Complex. Following interviews with the investigators, the man was released and will not be charged in connection with the robbery.
Police say they are not looking for any other suspects.
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Karleen Silvertooth was injured while her purse was snatched.
ARRESTED: Johnny Jackson, 38 (Source: Shreveport Police Department)
Police are on the scene of a reported bank robbery at the Region's bank in downtown Shreveport.
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