DETROIT (WXYZ) — Police say a Detroit city contractor is in custody after being caught on video stealing a purse from a woman after a call for service.
The woman issued a plea for help and 7 Action News took action to help track down the man responsible.
Police say a city contractor was called to help connect water at a home but then helped himself to a woman’s purse without realizing he was on camera.
Video from an outside camera provided to us by Teri Wright captured the city contractor leaving her home on Breckenridge Street after an appointment around 2 p.m.
Wright says she called the Detroit Water and Sewage Department to turn on water at her new home, but after came quite a shock.
“We went to go buy paint and couldn’t find my purse,” she said.
The video shows Wright’s purse being carried outside and placed inside a work van.
“We decided to check the tape and we saw it,” she said.
After Wright spoke with us, we quickly took action calling the water and sewage department within an hour.
Director Gary Brown confirmed police arrested the worker. He then saw the video.
“It was compelling evidence. We detained him before he got off his shift of work,” Brown said.
Inside her purse, Wright kept cash, credit cards and an ID. The city is working to return all her belongings after recovering her purse. They told us betrayal of trust won’t be tolerated and the contractor will be prosecuted.
“Getting us the video evidence allowed us to solve this quickly,” Brown said. “We’re going to make sure she is made whole, and I want to apologize.”
When asked if she expected an arrest so quickly, Wright said “yes and no.”
“I did hope the company would track him down,” she said.
Wright is also grateful to Detroit police for their quick response.
That contractor remains in custody as of Friday night.
