Police use Internet to nab purse snatcher

    HOULTON — Houlton police were crediting the Internet Tuesday with helping to identify a woman who reportedly stole a purse from a shopping cart in Walmart.
    A woman reported to police that she had accidentally left her purse in a shopping cart while exiting Walmart on Sunday. Surveillance footage, which was shown on the Houlton Police Department’s Facebook page, showed a woman viewing the purse, leaving the store, then coming back in and taking it before exiting the store in a vehicle.
    The purse was recovered Monday from a stream off the Hollywood Road, minus the cash and some prescription medication. The suspect in the video has been identified and is expected at the police department later Tuesday for questioning, according to chief Butch Asselin.
    He declined to name the individual, as she had not been formally charged as of press time. Asselin credited the use of Facebook with identifying the individual involved.