Mill Valley Man Arrested in Alleged Purse Theft Spree

After a week-long investigation, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office detectives and Petaluma Police solved a string of purse theft cases in the North Bay by arresting 25-year-old Joshua Lenzi, who listed his address in Santa Rosa and Mill Valley, along with his girlfriend, 31-year-old Courtney Silliman of Vallejo, authorities said Tuesday.

Sheriff Detectives on April 20 began their investigation when a victim had her purse stolen while attending a fund raising event at the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma, officials said. The victim had placed her purse in an office and someone stole it. Soon thereafter the victim's credit card was used at gas station in Vallejo.

The next day the suspect attempted to cash one of the victim's checks at a check cashing business in Concord. The suspect used his real ID card and he was identified as Lenzi, according to the Sheriff's Office.

On April 21, a woman shopping at the Lucky's store in Petaluma placed her purse in her shopping cart and walked away for just a few seconds to grab an item off a shelf. The suspect grabbed the victim's purse and ran out the door.

On April 23, the Petaluma Police Department received a call of three found purses in the parking lot of Comcast. The Petaluma Police Department recovered the Lucky's store victim's purse, the Hanna Boys Center victim's purse, along with a purse belonging to a woman from Vallejo, who had her purse stolen while shopping at the American Canyon Walmart.

Sheriff Detectives actively searched for Lenzi until he was arrested by Petaluma Police on Thursday night, April 25. Lenzi had entered the Petaluma Safeway store and stole a woman's purse from a shopping cart and ran out of the store, police said. Lenzi was chased by a witness who captured him and held him until police arrived.

Lenzi was initially arrested for Commercial Burglary and Grand Theft. Lenzi was booked at the county jail and his bail was originally set at $10,000.

Sheriff's Detectives began finding additional purse theft reports that matched the description of that theft. They interviewed witnesses and gathered surveillance video and ultimately solved six purse theft cases. Lenzi may have committed two additional purse thefts in Santa Rosa Police Department's jurisdiction, which will be followed up by SRPD, police said.

Sheriff's Detectives discovered that Lenzi's girlfriend, Courtney Silliman, had participated in two of the purse theft cases. Silliman was arrested yesterday when she showed up in court to see Lenzi's arraignment.

So far Joshua Lenzi has been charged with three counts of Commercial Burglary, two counts of Grand Theft, plus Possession of Stolen Property, Check Forgery, and ID Theft. Lenzi's bail was set at $115,000.

Courtney Silliman has been charged with Commercial Burglary, Possession of Stolen Property, Conspiracy, and Violation of her Probation. Silliman was on probation from a previous DUI conviction. Silliman's bail was set at $16,000.

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