A robbery suspect made the mistake of thinking great grandmother Mary Barrineau, 82, who walks with a cane, would make for an easy target as she was leaving a Tarpon Springs bank on Monday.
- Incident occurred outside Bank of America off Tarpon Ave.
- Barrineau ran after, tackled robbery suspect
- Police officer had to talk Barrineau into letting suspect go
“I walked out with my cane, she looked at all that, so, she thought I was weak,” Barrineau said. “Weak and old and couldn’t protect myself and she’d take advantage of me.”
According to Tarpon Springs Police, Barrineau was leaving the Bank of America located at 910 E. Tarpon Avenue at 9:27 a.m., when she was approached by 31-year-old Jennifer Kearin, who demanded Barrineau hand over her purse while implying she had a gun.
“She says, ‘I want your money. I want your money now.’ And I thought she was joking,” said Barrineau. “I says, ‘What are you talking about?’ She says, ‘I want your money and I’ve got a gun.’”
Barrineau had $1,000 worth of cash in her purse and said most of that money goes towards paying for her son’s assisted living facility. Barrineau wasn’t about to hand that cash over without a fight.
Police said Kearin snatched the purse out of Barrineau’s car and ran towards her car to make a getaway.
“Well, I ran after and tackled her when she got in the seat, and pushed her down. And she says ‘What are you doing?’ said Barrineau. “I said, ‘I’m getting my pocket book. You’re not taking my money.’ And that’s when I start scratching her and hitting her and holding her.”
According to the report, a couple of citizens witnessed the struggle and parked their cars behind the suspect’s vehicle to block Kearin from getting away. A short time later, a police officer arrived on the scene and had to talk Barrineau into letting go of the suspect.
“She said, ‘You have to turn her loose, you have to turn her loose so I can take over,’” said Barrineau. “I said, ‘I’m not turning her loose until she’s handcuffed.’”
Kearin was arrested for armed robbery and violation for probation on a previous welfare fraud charge. The robbery suspect was being held in the Pinellas jail on a $50,000 bond.
“You’ve got to fight for your rights. There’s a lot of criminals out there. A lot of bad people,” Barrineau said. “I worked hard for my money and I don’t want nobody come and steal it from me and take it from me.”