Imagine enjoying your day at the beach, when two thieves decide you're a target. One woman who spoke with ABC Action News said, no way.
"I saw the guys just running away with my purse with all of my personal properties inside like my phone my car keys," Marbely Penton said.
Penton was at Pier 60 Saturday, with her three kids, when she saw two men take off with her purse.
" I just put my kid right here and I run behind him just run with the kid trying to catch the guy," Penton said.
She did. Police said she caught Dennis William Mathews and punched him multiple times. Jean Claude Blom who works at the concessions stand played back-up, following Mathews for about ten minutes as he tried to run away.
"He apparently was acting as a decoy there was I found out after we got him I found out that there was actually a second person and that person got away with the purse," Blom said.
Or so he thought. Police caught Tyson Heilman using Penton's stolen credit cards about three hours later. She said she wishes she'd caught up to both suspects.Penton lifts weights in her free time.
"Yeah I think they pick the wrong one because I lift heavy every day like twice a day so it was a wrong decision," she said.
Penton didn't get her purse back but she's glad these guys are off the beach.
"At least they're not going to do anything else to anyone else," Penton said.
Police definitely don't recommend chasing suspects, but do say, you should keep your property with you at all times, even when you're at the beach.