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Police Arrest 2 Men Linked To 14 L.I. Purse Snatchings

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Women in Nassau County can breathe a bit easier now that police have arrested two men believed to be responsible for a string of purse snatchings across the area.

Authorities arrested 20-year-old Adesola Oguntunji, of Westbury, and 22-year-old Lucson Desir, of New Castle, Friday night after police said the men grabbed three pocket books from two women in Hicksville, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported.

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1010 WINS Reporter Mona Rivera gets details from police on the arrest

Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said one alert detective, who stopped the men's car in New Castle, had the cell phone number of one of the victims and called it. The phone rang in the front seat of the vehicle and both Oguntunji and Desir were arrested.

Police said both men have now been linked to 14 purse snatchings dating back to last October and November. Many of them occurred in the victims' driveways, which had residents on edge and women clutching their purses.

No one was seriously hurt, but some women were knocked to the ground during the incidents, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.

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WCBS 880 Reporter Sophia Hall in Nassau County where suspects in the purse snatchings case were caught.

Mulvey said it was a combination of the victims' perceptiveness and the police force's due diligence that eventually led authorities to the suspects.

"The victims in this case described the car and actually had a plate number. We know where these gentlemen lived because we've been watching them in this pattern," he said.

Mulvey also commended officers saying "it's a tremendous job closing out a series of 14 pocket book snatches."

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