Finally in the right place at the right time! NYPD cops catch serial purse snatcher on subway after he tried to run off train with woman's bag while they were patrolling platform

Footage shows how a repeat subway offender was chased downed and arrested by some well-placed police after snatching a woman’s purse in New York.

The incident occurred as the 6 train pulled into the 59th Street Station in Manhattan  Saturday, and saw a suspect, 41-year-old Alex Martinez, swiftly arrested.

It happened around 1am, after the accused got into a struggle with the 23-year-old victim while attempting to make off with the bag.

He made the attempt as the southbound train pulled into the station, cops said, but was instantly thwarted by some 'strategically deployed' officers on patrol. 

They are seen chasing Martinez as he looks to flee the station, before subduing him on the stairs and returning the purse to its rightful owner. The official X account of the New York City Police Department on Monday shared the shocking footage, while touting the successful arrest.

'In a matter of seconds, a recidivist thief, who had been arrested last year for a similar incident, recently snatched a woman's purse while she was riding the train,' brass for the NYPD wrote.  

'Fortunately, @NYPDTransit officers who were strategically deployed gave chase & arrested the man.

'Watch the vid [below],' officials instructed. 

In a subsequent post, The NYPD Chief of Transit, Michael Kemper, celebrated the officers' actions, asserting they did an 'outstanding job.'

He also revealed how Martinez 'is WELL KNOWN to the NYPD,' stylizing the latter part of the revelation in all-caps. 

'This past Saturday … just after 1:00am … the 59th Street station in Manhattan: Transit (TPF) cops were patrolling the station when they observed a male running off a train with a woman in pursuit,' the top transit cop wrote.

'Turns out, the male just snatched the woman’s purse from her as the train pulled into the station.

'Without hesitation, [the officers] gave chase … apprehending him & arresting him,' Kemper continued.

He went on to reassure: 'And yes, [the victim's] stolen purse was returned to her,'

As for the perpetrator, Kemper confirmed Monday that he had an active bench warrant for his arrest, along with a pending court case for a different grand larceny arrest that occurred in another Manhattan subway station in October of 2023.

For this case, he was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, the NYPD said - after he was filmed dropping the bag as officers gave chase.

The heart-pounding footage shows how officers managed to catch up to the thief in seconds, chasing him across the length of the platform and over turnstiles, before stopping him halfway up one of the stations stairwells. 

'Hey, get down!' one of the officers exclaims in the clip, which lasts a total of 48 seconds and is sure to inject any viewer with a not-so-healthy does of adrenaline.

'What did I do?' Martinez asks - an inquiry the cops look to ignore as there put him in bracelets.

Records indicate that he has since been transferred to the Eric M. Taylor Center on Riker's Island, with bail currently set at $20,000.

He currently has a court date slated for Thursday, where he will be arraigned on the two felony charges. 

The incident is only the latest to plague the city's notoriously embattled transit system, with subway crime in particular being labeled one of the city's major crises.

Statistics suggest transit offenses are down slightly, but even progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had some choice words about the state of  the city's platforms and tunnels when asked late last year.

'I know the statistics, that transit crime is down, but when one of my family members gets on the train, I, too, get a knot in my stomach,' he told FOX 5 News when asked about the perception that the subway system is becoming increasingly unsafe.

'I live here, I'm raising my family here, so we have a lot more work to do,' the lawmaker often criticized for lax laws that may embolden repeat offenders declared at the time.

Months later, unsolved subway-related incidents remain an issue, such as an assault that took place a day later a station away.

There, at 4:45 am as a northbound E train approached East 53rd and Lex on Sunday, several suspects were seen stabbing a victim with a knife before fleeing on-foot.

A surveillance still of one of the at-large men was posted on the department's social media accounts. 

In another incident, which occurred early last month, another male suspect approached a 49-year-old woman on a southbound 4 train as it arrived at the 86th and Lexington subway station, putting his penis on her arm.

In that case, a surveillance image of the suspect was recorded, but he remains at large.  

In October, another repeated offender in Sabir Jones, 39, punched and pushed a woman on to the subway tracks at 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. 

The victim suffered a critical head injury. Jones managed to avoid officers for a few days, but was arrested that month. He also now resides at Ryker's Island, records show.