A would-be purse snatcher remained at large Sunday after a professional hockey player-turned-hero thwarted the robber's bold burglary attempt at a Florida supermarket, the Naples Daily News reported.
Drew Larman, a center for the Floria Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League, said he "just reacted" when he heard 59-year-old Beverly Whaley scream after an unknown assailant ripped her purse from her hands on March 3.
"I went for a full sprint after the guy and I was yelling, 'Hey! What are you doing?'" Larman said. "After about 50 yards I was about 20 feet away from him and he started to cut across the parking lot and he was running to a car."
Larman said he then used his 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame to stop the purse snatching goon from closing his car door in the parking lot of the Sweetbay Supermarket in Fort Myers, Fla.
"When he got to the car I realized he was just trying to get away," Larman said. "I knew if he got the door to his car closed that would be the end of it. As he was closing the door I literally lunged in front of the door, stopped it with my arm and my leg from closing and pushed the door wide open.
"I realized that he was actually more scared of me than I was of him," Larman added. "He had the purse in his lap, the keys in his hand and I asked him, 'What are you doing?' He said to me, 'I've got kids.' That's the only thing he said."
Larman said he then snatched the purse back from the would-be thief, who then sped off, never to be seen again.
Larman, who had stints with the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers of the NHL, downplayed his role in pursuing the attacker.
"I just reacted," Larman said. "I don't view myself as a hero. To be able to put the skills that I work so hard for to work in a real life situation, it makes me feel great to know that my profession allows me to have the skill set to help people in a dire situation."
