A Sunday afternoon shopping trip for a Redding woman turned into a frightening episode earlier this year. It was Sunday at just after 3 o’clock on February 16 when the 57-year-old woman reported to police that her purse had been stolen from her.
According to the Redding Police, she was on her way to Target on Dana Drive. After leaving her car and walking through the parking lot, a man approached her and grabbed at her purse, which was slung over her shoulder. She held tight to the purse as the younger man struggled to get it from her grasp. He soon overpowered her and got it away. The victim reported to KRCR-TV at the time that she chased him for about 50 yards before he jumped into a waiting white Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the driver took him from the scene.
In reporting the crime, the victim described the man as being in his 20’s, about 5’10”, 180 pounds, with brown hair and a baseball cap worn backwards. The description fit a known parolee, Jeremiah James Woolf. He was interviewed about the incident, but said he knew nothing about it, and they did not have enough evidence to positively connect him to the crime.
Woolf’s promotional shots from ExploreTalent.com
36-year-old Jeremiah Woolf, of the town of Shasta Lake, just north of Redding, had been arrested in April of 2011 on charges of battery on a spouse or co-habitant (domestic violence), threats of violence, and vehicle theft. Woolf’s current occupation is unknown, but he has posted his picture and brief profile on ExploreTalent.com, a promotional website for actors and performers.
Last Friday August 1, five and half months after the incident, Woolf contacted his parole agent because he wanted to talk about something that he said was “weighing on his conscience”. He told his agent that he indeed was the one responsible for the purse snatching. Special Service Agent John Harrison from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, assigned to the Redding PD, interviewed Woolf to follow up on his confession. Woolf said that he had committed the robbery to support a drug habit. He said he had thrown the purse into the Sacramento River after he took the victim’s money and ATM card, which he had tried using at Raley’s supermarket.
Woolf was arrested on charges of robbery and a parole violation. His bail has been set at $50,000.00.
