GUILDERLAND — An unidentified white man snatched a woman’s purse as she and two friends left a Star Plaza restaurant last week, according to the Guilderland Police.

As the women were leaving the restaurant and getting into their car at about 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 8, the man “opened the driver’s side rear door and got into the vehicle and grabbed the driver’s brown backpack-style purse,” a release from the police department says.  The purse contained cash and credit cards, said Sergeant Don Jones yesterday.

The man is described as being about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing roughly 145 pounds with little or no hair, the release says.  At the time, he was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jacket with a white zipper, blue jeans, and white sneakers, according to the release.

“A witness reported that the suspect fled on foot towards the Trustco Bank, and ran across to the east side of [State Route] 155 and continued to run south along Route 155,” the release says.

“As with anything, they tend to flee on feet,” said Jones, and then get into a car parked elsewhere, which is a possibility in this case.

Police are following up on some leads, Jones said yesterday, and anyone with information is asked to contact Guilderland Police at 356-1501.

A purse-snatching is a “very rare occurrence” in Guilderland, Jones said.  He couldn’t recall the last time that one was reported, concluding, “It’s really rare.”

— Saranac Hale Spencer