Violent Purse Snatchers Strike Plea Deal

Three Brooklyn men charged with stealing a woman's pocketbook and then dragging her from their car in Hasbrouck Heights landed a last-minute plea bargain Friday in Hackensack that cuts their possible time in prison from up to 20 years to four years, the Cliffview Pilot reported.

Anthony Davis, Kinzy Gonzalez and Clinton Steele were accused of robbing a woman in April 2013. Reportedly, the trip took her purse to obtain gas money an then dragged her from their vehicle when she tried to get her pocketbook back. Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Dyanne Lluch said in court Friday that the woman, who suffered only minor injuries,  “turned out to be tougher than [Davis, Gonzalez and Steele] thought.”

Under the New Jersey No Early Release Act, because the crime was a violent one, Davis, 24, Gonzalez, 21, and Steele, 25 years old on Monday, must serve 85 percent of their plea deal-reduced sentences—just shy of 3 1/2 years, the article said. Davis and Steele are being held in Bergen County Jail in $125,000 bail each; Gonzalez is being held on $75,000 bail. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28.