An Odessa man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a local woman reported he stole an $1,800 Louis Vuitton purse from her using a homemade weapon.
Odessa Police Department dispatchers received a 911 call around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday about a theft-in-progress at Archie’s Place on Adams Avenue. They were then told the suspect was seen outside Westex Pharmacy on East 7th Street about four blocks away.
According to an OPD report, when officers arrived at the pharmacy, they found Luther Bernard Davenport, 62, with a coat hanger that had been fashioned into a knife with a handle and they detained him. At the same time, other officers spoke with a 40-year-old woman who said Davenport went behind the bar at Archie’s Place and grabbed her purse.
When she confronted Davenport, he threatened her with what she thought was a brown knife and made her back up, the woman told officers. She fell to the ground, scraping and bruising her knees.
“(She) advised she believed Luther was going to stab her if she hadn’t of fallen down,” an officer wrote in his report.
The woman provided officers video footage that showed Davenport taking the purse and her chasing him out the door, the report stated.
Officers also saw Westex Pharmacy footage showing Davenport holding the purse, throwing it under a car when officers began arriving and kicking it further underneath the car, the report stated.
Davenport was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison. He was also arrested on suspicion of the third-degree felony charge of tampering with physical evidence.
No bond had been set for Davenport as of Thursday afternoon.
Texas Department of Public Records show Davenport has served a handful of prison sentences going back to 1985 for such things as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft, fraudulent use of credit cards and theft by possession of stolen property. He also has several misdemeanor convictions.
