A woman who alleged stole a purse from an unsuspecting victim at Country Club Centre is unknown to local police. (Nanaimo RCMP)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

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UPDATE: Nanaimo police arrest alleged Country Club Centre purse snatcher

Jun 14, 2022 | 9:31 AM

NANAIMO — UPDATED: June 21, 2022.

Nanaimo RCMP made an arrest in the theft of a purse from Country Club Centre on May 2, 2022.

After video surveillance was released, a 37-year-old female suspect was quickly identified and was arrested without incident at her home on June 16.

She was released from custody and will appear in Nanaimo Provincial Court on September 13, 2022.

One condition of her release is she is not allowed inside Country Club Centre until the court proceedings have been dealt with.

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June 14– People didn’t hesitate to help identify a woman accused of stealing a purse from an unsuspecting victim at a local mall.

Nanaimo RCMP revealed they have identified a woman who allegedly stole a purse hanging off the back of a seat at the Country Club Centre food court on the evening of Monday, May 2.

“We released this and it was onto social media and we were inundated with calls from the public — all identified the same individual,” Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He said the suspect has been alerted, but has not been arrested and charges have not yet been applied.

“We are putting our file together and will be forwarding it to Crown and recommending charges at some point in the near future,” O’Brien added.

He thanked the public and mall staff for being helpful in their investigation.

Mall security footage showed a woman approaching the victim from behind, casually swiping the purse and walking away.

Luckily for the victim the purse and just about all of its contents were found by security outside the mall a short time later.

Only a banking card was stolen, which the victim immediately cancelled, police said.

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