In nearly 16 years as a Cook County sheriff’s deputy, Sgt. Nancy Kelly never once had gotten into a physical altercation.
But on Friday night, while off duty, she fought off three would-be thieves after they tried to steal her wallet.
The former elementary school teacher, 61, was having dinner with a longtime friend at a Panera restaurant on Cicero Avenue near 106th Street in Oak Lawn. After ordering a chicken sandwich, she left her purse underneath her coat in her booth while she went to get a drink.
“I wasn’t more than 3 feet away from it, and when I turned around there was this woman sitting in my booth,” Kelly said. She said she grabbed the woman by the arm, demanded to know what she was doing and quickly checked her purse. Her wallet was missing.
By that time, the would-be thief was on her way out the door, so Kelly chased her into the parking lot and grabbed her by the coat collar.
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“‘You picked the wrong person,’ I yelled,” Kelly said. “‘I’m a sheriff’s officer. Give me my wallet now.'”
The woman handed over the wallet but it was missing Kelly’s money and credit cards. Kelly tossed it to her friend, grabbed the thief’s purse and started to pull it away from her, screaming for help.
Suddenly, a man and a woman came to the thief’s aide, trying to wrest the purse from Kelly. Several bystanders tried to help Kelly gain control of the purse, while others called police or helped collect the contents of her wallet scattered on the pavement. In the melee, Kelly said someone yelled out a warning that the woman she first confronted was trying to bite her hand to free her hold of the purse.
“I grabbed her hair and yanked her head up and then started punching her,” she said. “But I’m still hanging onto the purse because I knew if I let go, my identity was gone.”
Oak Lawn police soon arrived and arrested Ricky Dumas, 41. The two women, though, had slipped away and driven off — but not before their license plate number was spotted.
Within minutes, officers pulled over the vehicle and arrested Karen Cannon, 35, who was accused of first taking the wallet, and Niaisha Anthony, 17. Joyce McClellan, 35, another occupant in the vehicle, also was arrested. All four South Side residents were charged with robbery, police said.
Officers recovered Kelly’s money and credit cards from the purse and found a number of other stolen gift cards inside the car, Kelly said.
On Monday, Kelly, whose right wrist and hand were still visibly bruised from the struggle, said she was grateful for the strangers who came to her aid.
“It’s the first time I think I’ve ever punched somebody,” said Kelly, a slight grin flitting across her face. “But you know, it might not be the last time.”
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