Suspect makes getaway on PVTA bus, but victim of stolen wallet at Springfield bus stop tracks him down

The Republican Newsroom

October 15, 2009, 11:22PM

The Republican file photo

SPRINGFIELD – Police said a woman was able to track the man who stole her wallet after he made his getaway as a bus passenger.

Demot E. Weaver Jr., of 152 Kensington Ave., was arrested and charged with unarmed robbery Thursday afternoon after he robbed a woman of her wallet as she was pulling out money for bus fare at the PVTA bus stop at Pine and Central streets, said Capt. C. Lee Bennett. After grabbing the wallet, Weaver left the scene by boarding the bus, she said.

The woman ran to get her boyfriend, and the two followed the bus in the boyfriend’s car downtown to Main and Fort streets, Bennett said.

The woman followed Weaver from Main and Fort into the Fort Restaurant, where he was filling out a job application, Bennett said. He saw her and ran out the door, but in the ensuing commotion, Fort employees called the police, Bennett said. Weaver was apprehended by officers Eugene Roux and James Moriarity a few blocks away, Bennett said.