Purse Snatching Leads to Arrest

A Winchester man was accused of snatching a purse from a woman in a Temecula park then heading to Pechanga casino, according to an official.

Christopher Lee Brown, 46, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and petty theft around 5 p.m. Monday and held in lieu of $25,000 bail, according to jail records.

Brown struck up a conversation with the female victim around 2:30 p.m. Monday as she sat reading a book in , according to sheriff's Sgt. Keith Knotek.

The man then grabbed the woman's handbag, and they briefly fought over it. The woman then fell to the ground, and the man ran off with the purse, the sergeant said.

He hopped into a silver Nissan Versa and sped north on Pechanga Parkway. Police found the man and his car at about two hours later, where he was arrested with no further struggle, Knotek said.