FIANNA FÁIL TD Timmy Dooley has definitely bagged one vote in the next election, having chased down a thief and returned a handbag to an elderly woman in Ennis.

He told TheJournal.ie that he was driving down the street in Ennis town at around midday when he saw someone dressed in black with a hood running through traffic with a brown, woman’s handbag.

“I pulled in and gave chase and as I got closer, he dropped the bag and made his escape.”

He went back and found the elderly lady who was with a friend. The TD said the woman was very shaken by the incident, adding that she was “just dazed”.

“I’ve been mugged one time myself and it’s pretty scary.”

Dooley said the incident “speaks to bigger issues” like drug and addiction-related crime.

“There’s often a lack of focus on the cause of this crime. We talk about putting more guards on the streets but we’re going to have to do an awful lot more about what appear to be petty crimes but are really feeding an addiction.”

Read: Woman “punched repeatedly in face” during handbag robbery>

Read: ‘Sunshine, put it down’: Philip Boucher-Hayes steps in to stop (fake) robbery>