New York City is always an exciting city to live in or visit, and sometimes locals get to watch a dramatic NYPD mounted officer chase down a thief through the streets on horseback. It happened on April 15 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side after an alleged thief stole a purse from a victim’s lap and took off running down the street.
The NYPD mounted officer captured the dramatic footage on his body cam while chasing the suspect on horseback, weaving through traffic along the way. In the video footage, the officer can be seen pursuing the suspect along sidewalks, through cars and under scaffolding on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, never letting the suspect out of sight.
Whether on foot or on hooves, our officers are always ready.
After someone stole a purse near West 72nd Street, our Mounted officer & his horse, Kelly, kept on her trail.
Galloping down the street & with the help of a witness, they recovered the purse & apprehended the suspect. pic.twitter.com/A6qs7DyoK5
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 16, 2026
The incident took place at around 11:06 a.m. on April 15, near West 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, according to People who viewed an incident report. According to a criminal complaint, Felicia Field, 44, who police describe as undomiciled, allegedly snatched the purse from the victim’s lap before fleeing the scene on foot.
To all the neighsayers…the NYPD isn’t horsing around on crime. pic.twitter.com/44d1bibe43
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 17, 2026
In the body cam video footage of the incident, the NYPD officer can be heard shouting, “Stop running, stop running!” as he chases Field down the street on horseback. The trusty NYPD police horse was later identified by the NYPD as Kelly in a social media post.
Another view of the dramatic chase on horseback was shared by NBC New York on Instagram. They captioned the post, “The NYPD released bodycam footage of a mounted unit pursuit of a suspected purse thief on Wednesday afternoon on the Upper West Side. According to a law enforcement source, the person was arrested near West 72nd Street after a brief pursuit by Kelly, the NYPD horse.”
View this post on Instagram
Field continued to run, skipping across streets, running under scaffolding on the sidewalk and between parked cars as the officer continued to chase her on horseback. The pursuit finally ended after a bystander helped to stop Field.
“You’re going to hurt somebody! You’re going to hurt this horse!” the bystander shouts. “Stop! Get out of the street!”
Thanks to the bystander, the officer was then able to dismount his horse and take her into custody without incident. The purse was recovered from the thief and given back to its owner. In the footage by NBC New York, the woman can be heard denying that she stole anything. Field was charged with grand larceny and false personation after reportedly providing false information to police in an attempt to conceal her identity, according to the incident report.
