The two thieves worked in familiar ways, targeting women using public transit, snatching their wallets and then making quick use of the credit cards inside.
Even their first names, Darryl and Darryl, were the same, authorities say.
But last Thursday, the two were under arrest, nabbed after one Darryl allegedly plucked a wallet from a purse in front of a Metro Transit police investigator at the Nicollet Mall light-rail station in downtown Minneapolis.
According to charges filed against the suspects Monday, that man, Darryl L. Brown, 46, then was arrested at a Nicollet Mall restaurant, and his alleged accomplice, Darryl Jones, 49, was caught a short time later after exiting the downtown Target store.
Jones had just made $400 and $106 purchases with the new victim's credit cards, police said.
The two Darryls were charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with theft from a person, a felony, in connection with Thursday's incident. Jones also faces a second theft charge stemming from the theft of a purse on a Metro Transit bus Feb. 12.
The complaints filed against the two men document five thefts. In each case, the victim was on or near Nicollet Mall before her purse or wallet was stolen. At least three thefts occurred while the women prepared to board trains, and in one case, a woman had her purse stolen while helping a man who acted as if his foot was stuck between the platform and the train.
The Darryls' apparent downfall last week came at the hands of an investigator who already was working the case. According to the charges, he saw the two men, called for backup and then watched as Darryl Brown stole the wallet from the woman's purse.
