Tulsa Police: 'Dastardly Dude' In Jail

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa Police have a purse snatcher under arrest, but they say he is much more than that. They say he's a criminal who's slipped through the system over and over.

"He's a dastardly dude so to speak, and we would like to see him put away," said Sergeant Dave Walker of the Tulsa Police.

Robbery detectives are familiar with this dastardly dude and have been arresting him for years, but he's always managed to wrangle free. They say this time he picked the wrong victim, and he's finally looking at prison time.

Purse-snatching victim Angie's car was in the shop a couple of weeks ago, so she decided to take the bus downtown from 15th and Delaware to pay a bill. That was when a criminal decided he'd take her money.

She was just standing there, waiting for the bus, when someone snatched her purse. A Good Samaritan got his tag number, and police were able to arrest him.

They arrested Skyler Neill after Angie says she picked him out of a photo line-up.

Robbery detectives say they have typed his name into the their computer many, many times. In fact, they've been arresting him since 2006.

"Him and some friends broke into a house with guns and took flat screen TVs," Walker said.

"He kicked in his ex-girlfriend's door, beat her up and put a gun to her head, stole her car," he said. "But, those charges get filed, then dismissed when it comes time for court."

A review of Neill's court records show that time and time again, cases are dismissed because witnesses fail to show up for court. Police say his victims are usually someone he knows, but not this time.

Angie was just an innocent person, minding her own business.

"They said he's done several, that he's done several more and has hurt someone so I thank God that I wasn't hurt," she said.

Police are thrilled to finally have someone who will testify and even though purse snatching isn't the crime of the century, they hope it will be one that sends him to prison.

"Hopefully, with this one, and all the other ones he's committed, will put him away until I retire," said Sergeant David Walker of the Tulsa Police.

Skyler Neill does have convictions for grand larceny, weapons and drugs. He's not been charged with the purse snatching yet, but he's only nine months into an eight-year suspended sentence, so prosecutors will try to get that revoked so he has to serve the rest of that time behind bars.

One things Angie had in her purse was her Social Security card. No one should ever carry that in their purse or wallet because of identity theft.