Customers and staff of the local Super Valu store took flight in hot pursuit Wednesday afternoon when they were alerted to a purse snatcher in the Second Avenue business.

Jim Palamar, co-owner of the grocery store, said today a woman was shopping in the dairy section located in the aisle furthest from the front doors, and was a short distance away from her cart.

When she turned and noticed her purse missing from her buggy, she quickly scanned the area and saw who had it.

She then shouted, 'Stop that guy; he stole my purse!' recalled Palamar, who was in the store at the time.

He said the suspect, who was eventually chased down and was in custody this morning awaiting a court appearance, was about halfway to the front door when the woman shouted. The suspect immediately bolted.

He turned down Second Avenue and then up the alleyway between Super Valu and Canadian Freightways, much to his peril.

A couple of stock boys also took off in pursuit, as did one customer in the store. Joining the pursuit was another customer outside in his vehicle, who quickly deciphered what was going on, as well as the woman who had her purse snatched.

The alley, said Palamar, is quite icy and slippery in the current weather conditions.

'Basically, he was slip-sliding away,' he said.

The accused man was slowed up substantially by the treacherous conditions while the customer in the vehicle drove around and down Black Street to Third Avenue.

The customer in the vehicle and the other one on foot were the first to reach the suspect in front of NAPA Auto Parts.

They wrestled down the 28-year-old, who had been released from jail that morning on another suspicion of theft. They then called the police on a cellphone, though the store had also contacted the RCMP.

The woman arrived moments later to identify her purse, and the police arrived to arrest the man.

He was in custody this morning awaiting a court appearance early this afternoon.

Palamar said the customers involved, and the woman who had her purse stolen, all returned to continue their shopping.

'She was a little shaken, but she was glad she got her purse back,' he said of the victim.

The accused was arrested Tuesday afternoon and held overnight on a suspicion of stealing money from both Tim Hortons outlets earlier that day.

RCMP reported Tuesday that a man entered the Tim Hortons beside Pizza Hut at 4 a.m. and took money from the cash register while an employee was busy with other duties.

At 7 a.m., police received a complaint from the second Tim Hortons that an individual had entered the shop and made off with a donation jar located on the front counter.

The suspect in question was arrested later that day, kept in jail overnight and released the next morning on a promise to appear in court April 20 to face charges of stealing from the Tim Hortons stores.

Police are not releasing the identity of the accused.