Sep 17, 2008 7:28 pm US/Eastern
UES Woman Fights Back, Detains Career Criminal
Christine Anderson Didn't Feel Like Parting With Her Favorite Camera So She Took Action, Helped NYPD
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The NYPD is grateful to an Upper East Side woman turned feisty crime fighter. She fought back and helped nab a career criminal.
And as CBS 2 HD found out in this exclusive report, she even surprised herself.
Christine Anderson, 46, doesn't like to be called a superhero, but that's what many would consider her after she wrestled a burglar to the ground who'd slipped through her living room window and stole her favorite camera while she was out grocery shopping.
"I came home and opened my door and there was a gentleman trying to leave with my camera," Anderson said. "I kept repeating, 'Give me my camera.'"
Anderson still can't believe how agile the burglar was to climb up and over these basement steps in broad daylight at 8:30 in the morning and to slip into her narrow first floor window on East 78th Street. And she still can't believe how ferociously she fought for her camera, the struggle spilling out into her lobby.
"At the bottom of the second step, I jumped on him and I finally got my camera back," Anderson said.
A neighbor spotted the burglar running away and called 9-1-1. Police then arrested 52-year-old Clarence Cooper who they say has a rap sheet dating back to 1978 and served six stints in prison for burglary and drug sales.
Anderson doesn't want lots of praise and accolades but she did surprise herself by choosing to fight back.
"If I can help a male or female … You need to stick up for yourself. You need to say enough. Fight for your house and your well-being," Anderson said.
Anderson wants to thank the neighbor who called police. She's hoping to find out who he is when she testifies before the grand jury on Friday.
Anderson said the burglar also stole her iPod and BlackBerry, but police recovered those items.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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