Man Bitten, Stabbed After Chasing Down Malden Purse Thief: Police

MALDEN, MA — A man is recovering after he was stabbed and bitten while helping chase down a would-be purse thief in Malden on Monday afternoon, Malden Police Chief Glenn Cronin said.

Police, meanwhile, were still in the process of identifying the man that they said took the purse as of 3:15 p.m, according to Cronin.

The incident began around 1:50 p.m. on Monday, Cronin said, when a man followed a woman up Summer Street toward Rockland Avenue in Malden. The man then tried to grab the woman’s purse, Cronin said, getting into what Cronin described as a “tug-of-war” with the woman.

“That drew people’s attention,” Cronin told Patch..

Police received multiple 9-1-1 calls, according to Cronin, as the man managed to wrestle control of the purse and begin running back down Summer Street. That’s when Cronin said "brave samaritans" gave chase, eventually getting into a struggle at the intersection of Summer Street and Chestnut Street.

One of the men ended up bitten in the left arm and stabbed in the leg during the exchange, according to Cronin.

Once on scene, police also struggled to subdue the man who Cronin said stole the purse, eventually taking him into custody.

“I got to give these two guys a lot of credit,” Cronin said of the people who intervened. “It was really a brave act.”

Cronin said both the man who got stabbed and the woman who had her purse taken suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

An investigation is ongoing, Cronin said.