East Haven police have arrested a suspect in a wallet snatching and said a photo the victim’s grandson took helped lead them to the man.
Officers responded to Stop & Shop at 370 Hemingway Ave. around 8 p.m. Saturday to investigate a report that an elderly woman had been robbed.
The victim was with her grandson and told police that she was leaving the store when a man came up from behind her, grabbed her wallet out of her hand and ran away.
She and her grandson chased the man but lost him when he got into a silver sedan and fled, police said.
They said the victim’s quick-thinking grandson used his cell phone to take a photo of the suspect’s vehicle and its license plate.
This led police to a suspect, who they identified as 32-year-old Robert Ende.
They said Ende waited inside Stop & Shop, by the exit, and followed the victim and her grandson outside after they passed him. Then video showed Ende running up from behind and snatching something out of the victim’s hands, according to police.
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Police learned that Ende was a resident of a sober house on Coe Avenue, saw him drive by the residence slowly and stopped him at the intersection of Coe and Bradford avenues, police said.
Ende was was charged with robbery in the third degree and larceny in the second degree. He is being held on a $100,000.
