Click the play button on the video window to the see the storyGLENDALE, AZ -- A purse snatcher messed with the wrong victim on Thursday morning.
ABC15 was the first on scene near 45th Avenue and Hatcher Road as a police helicopter circled the neighborhood.
The purse snatcher's time was running out as he was ordered by air patrol to surrender.
"This is your chance, we have the neighborhood surrounded. You need to come out give yourself up now or you'll be bit by a dog."
Barely 5 feet tall, 62-year-old Dawn Detjens was walking out of her home and reportedly spotted a burglar snatching her purse right out of her truck.
She told ABC15 the thief was trying to take off with everything she had, including her cash, her credits cards and her identity.
As 26-year-old Carl Matthews jumped on his bike to get away, Detjens said she jumped in her truck and chased him.
"He dropped his bike, he jumped a fence, so then I took the bike and threw it in the back and then I went around looking for him."
Police say Matthews ditched the first bike, got on a second one, and even changed his clothes.
It wasn't enough to fool Detjens. She said she tracked him down as he was scaling her neighbor’s fence. That's when she called 911.
Police cornered the suspect who was reportedly hiding out in Lydia Guzman's backyard.
"That's the scary part because we were very close by in that 5-foot proximity and we didn't see him," said Guzman.
Phoenix Police K9 "Jake" sniffed out the suspect.
After Matthews attempted escape he apparently complained of dehydration. He was checked and then booked into jail.
Detjens got her purse and wallet back and Matthews is facing burglary charges.
