A man who stole a woman’s purse last year at Lake Sumter Landing is heading to prison.
The woman had been walking to her golf cart shortly before 10 p.m. May 3, 2018 after getting off work at a business on Old Mill Run, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The woman was loading items into the golf cart when a car pulled up, a man jumped out and he stole her purse. The turquoise purse contained her Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and a wallet.
Deputies were able to obtain surveillance footage and discovered the car’s license plate number. The 1996 Buick was tracked to a residence in Wildwood, south of the Village of Fenney.
Ryan Tyler Pierce, 22, admitted to stealing the purse.
The New York native said that he had recently been released from jail in Georgia and did not have any money. He looked for cash in the woman’s wallet, but only found $1. He threw all of the other items in the garbage.
Last week in Sumter County Court, he pleaded no contest to a charge of grand theft. He has been sentenced to one year with the Florida Department of Corrections.
While he was free on bond in the purse snatching, Pierce was arrested on additional charges of robbery and larceny.
