Brazen crimes bring warning

It was a little before 9 o'clock Wednesday morning, and 21-year-old Paul Neumiller — a security guard at the Holland Performing Arts Center — had just finished a patrol and returned to his office to read the morning's e-mails.

A woman walked past his window along Dodge Street, carrying her laptop bag on one shoulder and holding a small leather purse in her left hand.

“Then we heard her scream,” Neumiller said. “It sounded like a kid crying.”

When Neumiller, a Marine reservist from Plattsmouth, saw a man running away with the woman's purse, he bolted after the suspect, chasing him down the street and into a parking lot.

The ordeal was the latest in a recent string of purse-snatchings and robberies in downtown Omaha during daylight hours. In response, police and civic authorities have urged caution on the city's streets.

“It is unusual for us to have person-to-person or purse-snatching robberies in the downtown area,” said Officer Jacob Bettin, a department spokesman.

Robbers generally are less likely to strike in a high-traffic area like downtown, he said.

Two people were robbed by a masked gunman in separate incidents Tuesday morning, and three men tried to rob a downtown ice cream parlor late Monday morning.

Tips for staying safe are especially timely with more people visiting downtown during the College World Series.

Police said people should keep valuables out of sight, carry limited amounts of cash and stay in areas that feel safe.

And if you are robbed, Bettin said, scream. Don't, however, try to fight the robber, he said.

During Wednesday morning's attack, the victim saw a man walking toward her as she strode toward her office less than a block away. She agreed to comment on the condition that she not be identified.

“I noticed him, but I didn't think much of it,” she said. “It was just him and me.”

He passed her on her right side but spun around and grabbed her purse before running east on Dodge Street.

“No!” she screamed. It was loud enough to bring several people running toward the scene. Neumiller was one of them.

“I pointed to the guy, and he just took off and went after the guy,” she said.

The suspect headed toward a parking lot and dropped the purse in the process. Neumiller didn't slow down.

Earlier in the day, Neumiller and his boss had been discussing how the Holland Center's guards should react to a robbery. But they hadn't come up with an answer.

So Neumiller relied on his instincts when he heard the woman scream. He set off at a sprint.

“That's just how I am, so I did it,” he said. “It was just the right thing to do.”

The suspect ran fast, but Neumiller — a former high school wrestler — ran faster. He tackled the man by the time they reached a parking lot between 11th and 12th Streets, pinned him face-down and waited for police to arrive.

The suspect was unrepentant.

“Who cares? I stole a purse,” the man told Neumiller. He didn't struggle while Neumiller held him down, waiting for police.

“It was pretty quick and painless,” Neumiller said. “Well, pretty painless for me.”

Police still were interviewing the suspect Wednesday afternoon and could not yet say whether the purse-snatching might be linked to other downtown robberies.

The hero of the day was back at work not long after the excitement, checking his e-mail in the office along Dodge Street. What will he do if it happens again?

“I have no idea,” Neumiller said.