Vagabond Asks for Ride, Steals Woman's Purse

Residents of a apartment called the cops around 2 p.m. March 17 when they realized a woman who was in their house the day before likely stole a purse.

The 37-year-old woman, who told the victim she was her neighbor's girlfriend, knocked on the door in the 16300 block of South 66th Street around 5 p.m. on March 16. She asked one of the residents if she could use her cell phone to make a call and she obliged.

She then asked if she could have a ride to Midway Airport in exchange for $40. A resident agreed, taking a moment to run upstairs and tend to a child. 

On the way to the airport, the woman told the victim she wouldn't be able to pay her that day but gave her cell phone number and insisted she'd pay later, the report said. When the victim returned to her apartment, her roommate said her purse was missing from a downstairs table that was just a couple feet from where the stranger was standing. 

contacted the suspect and she denied taking the bag, which contained $75 cash, a social security card, a driver's license and medical insurance cards. The woman was the only non-family member in the home during the time of the theft, the report said. 

" … (The suspect) denied taking the purse and even denied being inside the residence at all," the report said. "(She) stated that she never entered the house from the time she knocked on the door to the time (the victim) gave her a ride … (she) kept telling me that she just got out of rehab and 'don't need any more legal troubles.'"

Victims said the woman was carrying a purse that was large enough to fit the one that was taken and reiterated that she was left alone, next to where the bag was.

No charges had been filed in the case as of March 28. 

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