Two arrested for stealing purse from elderly woman in Fayetteville

An 82-year-old woman was walking into the Carlie C’s on Cedar Creek Road at about 9 a.m. when a man snatched her purse from her shopping cart, police said. The man then entered a red Pontiac Sunfire and was driven away.

The vehicle was spotted on Clinton Road near Dunn Road but it did not stop for officers, police said. The brief pursuit ended when the vehicle became stuck in traffic on Person Street near South Eastern Boulevard.

The driver, Ethan Jeremiah Mitchell, 18, of 1215 Jereens Creek Road, was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, possession of a weapon of mass destruction (officers said they found an altered rifle in the vehicle) and two counts each of larceny from the person, possession of stolen goods and felonious conspiracy. Mitchell remained at the Cumberland County jail Thursday under a $175,000 bond.

The passenger, Tyrique Jerome Sharpless, 21, of 1900 Tryon Drive, was charged with two counts each of larceny from the person, possession of stolen goods and felonious conspiracy. Sharpless remained at the Cumberland County jail Thursday under a $125,000 bond.

Both men were also charged with a larceny at the same supermarket on July 7 when a 67-year-old woman had her wallet snatched while at an ATM, police said. The suspects in that incident also fled in a red Pontiac Sunfire, police said.