A good Samaritan chased a man after he stole a woman’s purse outside the University Club of St. Paul on Summit Avenue and put him in a bear hug until police arrived, but the suspect bit his arms and squeezed his genitals in an attempt to get away, according to criminal charges.

He was able to hold him for the police, though his glasses were broken during the struggle.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, 21, of St. Paul, on Friday with theft and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct for grabbing the man’s testicles.

On Thursday about 5:20 p.m., a 40-year-old woman was walking to the front door of the University Club to pick up her paycheck, according to police. In the window, she saw the reflection of a man behind her and stopped to hold the door, but he suddenly grabbed her purse and ripped it from her hands.

The woman chased the suspect, but fell to the ground and scraped her hands in the process. A 27-year-old man who heard her screams for help caught and tackled a man, later identified as Mohamud, just before he made it to a getaway vehicle on Ramsey Hill, according to the criminal complaint.

The man held Mohamud to the ground and Mohamud yelled, “Grab the gun! Grab the gun!” the complaint said. The woman whose purse had been stolen ran away, thinking people in the car were going to open fire, and the driver sped off.

After Mohamud’s arrest, he told an investigator he did nothing wrong and “was being held by a citizen for no reason,” according to the complaint. He later said he had taken the woman’s purse to get a few dollars, but said he didn’t know about anyone grabbing a gun.