Bowling Green Police cited a man Thursday for theft after two women’s purses were stolen from a downtown bar, with the items inside being scattered throughout the downtown. The suspect was identified after a photo of a man with green hair carrying a purse was posted on the police division’s social media.
Police responded to the bar in the 100 block of North Main Street after two women reportedly left their purses and jackets in a booth while they went to the restroom. When they returned, their items were gone.
One purse contained car keys, identification, insurance cards and cosmetics. The other contained a cell phone, keys, two credit cards, insurance card, an ID, cosmetics and a photo of great sentimental value.
Camera footage from downtown showed three males exiting the bar at 2:03 a.m. One was carrying an orange purse and black jacket, and another was carrying a white purse. As they turned east onto Court Street, the males reportedly stopped at a trash can and threw items into it.
Officers searched the trash can and found numerous cosmetic products. They then located keys on the curb of East Court Street and North Prospect Street, and then the orange purse on the sidewalk in the 200 block of North Prospect Street. The black jacket was found next to a tree at the intersection of East Oak Street and North Prospect.
The items were returned to the women. Shortly after, the women called police to say they had returned to the downtown area and were able to find other items on the ground and in a flower planter in the 100 block of North Main Street.
Later on Thursday, a man returned the other purse to the police station, reportedly saying that he was so drunk that he did not remember taking the purse. However, when he woke up the next morning, the purse was in his home, and someone showed him the photo of himself with the purse over his shoulder posted on the police social media.
He also gave police the names of the other two men reportedly involved in the thefts.
