Ditches coat, nabbed by undercovers

Saturday, October 17, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A purse-snatcher ditched his distinctive coat in a garbage can, but Jersey City cops who spotted him walking around in the cold and rainy weather wearing a dry shirt busted him, officials said.

Jose Santana, 35, of Dumont, was arrested at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at Monmouth and Mercer streets and charged with robbing a 55-year-old woman at Montgomery and Varick streets, officials said.

Officers on patrol on Varick had seen a man in a white parka run past them carrying a pocketbook. The victim approached the police car saying the man had snatched her purse while she waited at the bus stop, reports said.

The officers chased the man while radioing a description but lost him, reports said. They found the victim's purse on Mercer Street between two cars and a resident who found a white parka in his garbage can gave it to police, who identified it as the one worn by the robber, reports said.

Officers in an unmarked car spotted Santana on Monmouth Street and he was looking around nervously and walking at a fast pace, reports said. The officers noticed his hat and jeans were wet but his shirt was dry and he was breathing heavily as if he had been running, reports said.

While being processed, Santana gave a "formal statement of the robbery and his involvement," reports said.

He was taken to the Hudson County jail in Kearny.