TPD: Ex-Con Robs Woman At Tulsa Grocery Store; Bystanders Chase, Detain Him

According to a police report, Timothy Towe, 57, took the woman's purse from her shoulder, pushed her to the ground and told her if she followed him, he would kill her.

Sunday, December 7th 2014, 8:17 pm

By: News On 6

TPD: Ex-Con Robs Woman At Tulsa Grocery Store; Bystanders Chase, Detain Him

A man who once served time for second-degree murder is in the Tulsa County jail after attacking and robbing a woman outside a grocery store about noon on Sunday.

Police arrested 57-year-old Timothy Allen Towe at a Warehouse Market near 61st and Peoria. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond on a complaint of robbery by force or fear.

The victim was treated for a fractured right wrist, contusion on her head and a possible broken tailbone.

According to a police report, Towe took the woman's purse from her shoulder, pushed her to the ground and told her if she followed him, he would kill her.

Towe ran, but the victim began screaming for help and bystanders at the store were able to detain Towe until police arrived. Police said Towe was transported to a Tulsa hospital to be treated for injuries sustained during his detention.

The woman positively identified him as her attacker, the report says.

According to the report, Towe told officers he made a mistake and took the woman's purse, but “he needed the money because he was broke and… had a drug problem.”

In 1991, when he was 33, Towe was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in a drunk-driving related crash. He served eight years and was released in 2000. He also was given prison time for DUI in 1985.