Shortly after 11 a.m. Friday, a man well known to police as Mr. China Man was reported to have ripped a purse from a woman’s hands in front of St. Mary’s Caring in Lexington Park, also know as the soup kitchen across from the U.S. Post Office.
A woman told police the man, who has no fixed address, yanked the purse from her arms and fled into the woods near Lexington Manor, also know as the Flattops.
Police quickly responded and spread out to search the area and checked inside several of the broken down buildings in the Flattops on foot. They also learned that China Man was extremely drunk this morning.
By 11:20 a.m., China Man was found and taken into custody. He reportedly agreed to show police where he tossed the purse, as long as the victim did not press charges. She rejected the offer.