LAWRENCE — Anne Ogden was planting red geraniums in front of her grandmother’s grave when she heard the thief coming. Before the 80-year-old woman could react, the man had snatched her purse off the ground and was dashing away. She could only plead for him to stop.
“I hollered at him, ‘Please take the money, but leave everything else,’ ” she said in an interview about the Tuesday morning incident. No luck. She said the man hopped a fence and was gone.
Lawrence police eventually caught up with 32-year-old Christopher Ansara and arrested him in connection with the theft at St. Mary-Immaculate Conception Cemeteries. They even got the bag back, but all that was left inside were medical papers and a bottle of hand lotion. Precious mementos, a significant amount of cash, and important documents were gone.
Ansara, who is listed in court documents as homeless, did not show up to a scheduled court appearance Wednesday morning in Lawrence District Court, where he faces allegations of trespassing and stealing from a person older than 65. Authorities said he had been released on $40 bail and now faces a default warrant.
Thefts like the one that interrupted Ogden’s moment of reflection are disturbingly common just before Memorial Day, according to cemetery director James M. Jacobs, who said burial sites around the region see the threat increase as people pour in to adorn their loved ones’ graves.
“It’s very unfortunate. We feel bad, but there’s not a lot we can do about it,” said Jacobs, who has worked at the cemetery for 43 years. He said he asks his staff to be vigilant, and he warns anybody he sees leaving valuables around to lock them up.
He said he hopes news of the quick arrest by Lawrence Police will deter other thieves.
Ogden, who lives in Lawrence, doesn’t visit her family grave sites often — “They shouldn’t be there. That’s how I feel,” she said.
But she does want them to look nice for the summer. She’s been doing this since she was a girl, when her grandmother used to take her. They would bring red flowers, just like she did Tuesday.
She kept her purse in the car as she cleaned up the grave of her husband, Frank. Then she brought it with her as she moved to her grandmother’s. That’s when Ansara allegedly struck.
She and other bystanders called the police in both Lawrence and neighboring Methuen, and then she continued on to plant flowers at her mother’s grave. She still had her car keys, after all.
Those who were at the cemetery Wednesday said they were disturbed by the news that someone had been a victim of crime in what is supposed to be a place for peaceful rest.
John King of Methuen was watering plants at his parents’ grave and at those of people who are buried nearby.
“It’s a shame that someone was out here taking care of their loved ones and someone did that to them,” he said. “It’s not the place for that.”
Mildred and Tony Di Dio, also of Methuen, said they always come to the cemetery together just to be safe. But the couple, who have been married for 60 years and were planting flowers at their parents’ graves, had never heard of such a theft.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re surrounded by these kinds of people, but it’s the world we live in today,” Mildred Di Dio said. She joked that she could rely in a pinch on the cane she uses to walk: “I could always use this as a weapon.”
Ogden spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday dealing with the fallout of the theft. She’d been at the bank twice, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and the Social Security office.
Among the cash in her quilted blue Vera Bradley bag were bills that had belonged to her husband and other loved ones when they had died.
As important as it is to remember the people she lost, Ogden said she might not return next year to plant flowers.
“I don’t think I will — unless I bring somebody with me,” she said.
Andy Rosen can be reached at andrew.rosen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @andyrosen.