Eureka Police recovered a purse and its contents the day after it was stolen from a car outside the Arby’s restaurant, 60 Hilltop Village Center Drive. The purse was found near a wooded area by the EverTrue Hilltop Heights apartment complex, 11 Hilltop Village Center Drive, police reported.
A 41-year-old Pacific woman, who works at Arby’s, called police at about 9:15 p.m. July 22 after discovering her purse was stolen. She told police she had parked a 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis outside the restaurant, and she had left the car’s windows down with her black purse inside it, the report said.
On July 23, officers were called to the apartment complex after someone found a black purse. The purse had the woman’s driver’s license, wallet and debit and prepaid credit cards in it, according to the report.
Surveillance video from the apartment complex allegedly showed a man carrying the purse near where it was found at about 8 p.m. July 22. The man was then allegedly seen getting into a 2006 Ford Taurus, which was identified using Flock license-plate reading cameras, the report said.
Another man was driving the Taurus, according to the report.
As of Aug. 5, neither man seen in the video had been identified, and the purse had been returned to the woman, Lt. Brett Grittini said.