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"It's the case of someone who saw something not right, he does the right thing and helps to make an arrest," city police Lt. Todd Umstead said.
Ashby Alanzo Lewis Thomas, 23, of 942 N. Duke St., was charged with robbery, Umstead said. He was sent to Lancaster County Prison on $50,000 cash bail.
The incident occurred at the upper parking lot of The Village Nightclub, 205 N. Christian St., at 1:16 a.m. on Thursday, Umstead said.
A sports utility vehicle pulled up and stopped next to a 21-year-old Lebanon woman who was walking near East Fulton Street, he said.
A passenger got out of the SUV, took the woman's purse and pushed her to the ground, Umstead said.
The SUV pulled away and went south on Duke Street, he said. The woman got up and walked away from the scene.
But thanks to a 21-year-old Willow Street man who witnessed the incident, the story doesn't end there.
The man, who was not with the woman, quickly reported what happened to two nearby police officers, Umstead said. He told them the SUV was either a Cadillac Escalade or Lincoln Navigator.
Police put the description out over the police radio and a short time later, officers saw a Lincoln Navigator at Orange and Water streets, Umstead said. They followed it and pulled it over in the 500 block of North Mulberry Street.
Four people inside the SUV were detained and questioned, he said. Police found the woman's purse in the vehicle.
Other officers located the victim of the incident, and she and the Willow Street man identified Thomas as the suspected robber, Umstead said.
The other three occupants of the SUV were not charged in the incident.
