Police are investigating two purse snatchings that occurred in Southwest Roanoke on Saturday.

According to police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson, a 38-year-old Roanoke woman had her pocketbook taken from her about 5 p.m. in the 100 block of Church Avenue. She said it was stolen by a man in a white tank top and bluejeans cutoffs who fled on foot. No one was hurt and no arrests have been made.

Johnson said about three hours later, in the 500 block of Mountain Avenue, a 36-year-old Roanoke woman had her handbag snatched by a man riding a bicycle. The suspect fled down Mountain toward Sixth Street. He is described as a man in his 40s wearing black shorts and a white shirt. No one was hurt in that incident, and police are still looking for the suspect.

These incidents mark the third and fourth reported robberies of their kind in that quadrant of the city since early July.

On July 10, Johnson said, officers responded about 10 p.m. to the intersection of Winborne Street and Memorial Avenue, where a 58-year-old woman said a man had demanded her purse. The victim, who was not hurt, described the suspect as a man in his 20s with a muscular build, wearing a light-colored shirt and black pants.

On July 17, about one block southeast, Johnson said a 69-year-old woman reported having her purse taken between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the 1900 block of Winborne Street. She was not hurt either and described the suspect as a male teenager wearing Puma sneakers.

The police are investigating whether these incidents are related. Anyone with information regarding these crimes should call the Crime Line at 344-8500.

-- Neil Harvey