A man suspected of mugging an off-duty New York City police officer on Wednesday was arrested one day later after authorities received a tip that he was traveling to Philadelphia.
The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Samuel Thornton, was taken into custody on Thursday by U.S. Marshalls, the Regional Fugitive Task Force and local police, according to NBC 10.
At about 5:20 a.m. on Wednesday, a 41-year-old female NYPD officer was approached by the suspect in a basement parking garage inside her Wakefield building on Bronx Boulevard and East 226th Street, the NYPD said.
According to authorities, Thornton grabbed the officer's gold chain from her neck and demanded that she give him her wallet. When the officer reached into her purse to remove her 9 mm service weapon, Thornton allegedly attacked her, punching her in the face and taking both the gun and her purse, police said.
The officer, not in uniform at the time, was taken to nearby hospital and treated for abrasions and a facial contusion.
Charges against Thornton are pending, according to police sources, and it was not clear whether he planned to waive or fight extradition to New York.