Cheektowaga, NY (WBEN) Cheektowaga Police arrested a man after an attempted purse snatching yesterday. 32 year old Michael Sawyer is accused of seriously injuring an 80 year old woman during the incident, in the parking lot of the Tops Market on Harlem Rd at Kensington Ave.
Police say witnesses called them to report a woman injured in a pedestrian hit and run but the call was updated by dispatchers that the incident was actually an attempted robbery. Police say witnesses saw a white male in a white Jeep pulling on a woman's purse handles as the woman held onto the purse and was dragged by the moving vehicle. As the woman fell, the Jeep sped off down Kensington Ave.
Police say those witnesses also helped by following the Jeep out of the lot and taking a photo of the license plate. A plate check revealed that the 2014 Jeep was reported stolen April 1. Cheektowaga Police officers and detectives developed Michael Sawyer as a suspect based on the stolen vehicle report and past interactions with the vehicle and its driver. Police say a witness to the incident helped them by identifying Sawyer as the man driving the Jeep.
City of Buffalo Police were advised of the incident and soon afterward located the suspect vehicle parked on Miller Ave near Broadway. Cheektowaga and Buffalo Police officers and detectives set up surveillance on the Jeep and eventually observed Sawyer approaching.
When confronted by a detective, Sawyer took off running but was apprehended shortly thereafter in a back yard. Michael Sawyer was charged with Attempted Robbery 1 st and Assault 1 st for causing injury to a person during the commission of a felony. Sawyer was arraigned in Cheektowaga Town Court on Wednesday where Town Justice James J. Speyer set bail at $200,000.
Since 2010 Sawyer has been arrested 24 times including 14 felony charges.
He has also been charged for leading police on vehicle pursuits and reckless driving on 10 different occasions since 2016.
The 80 year old female victim of the robbery is in intensive care.
