Police say a 13-year-old Good Samaritan who chased and tackled a thief fleeing the scene of a break-in was brave – but next time, he should probably leave pursuit to the cops.
Thomas Bayer was at a Lynn Valley strip mall with a friend on Friday afternoon when he happened by the smash-and-grab in progress.
“I looked to my right as a lady was screaming ‘Stop!’ he said. “I saw a guy running with a bag and I chased him across the street.”
Moments earlier, the man had shattered the window of a parked SUV, taking a backpack with him.
Bayer, who is about six-foot-one and weighs roughly 180 pounds, chased the suspect into the Maple Leaf Garden Centre on Lynn Valley Road and eventually caught up with and tackled him.
“I grabbed his shoulder and kind of kicked his knee in. I grabbed the bag off him,” he said.
Bayer said he was mainly focused on getting the bag back for the victim and the suspect got away. He then called the police and waited for them to arrive to give his statement, including a description of the suspect.
Rather than trying to lie low and lose the heat, the suspect then ran into the Save-On-Foods, attempting to steal chocolate bars, according to Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver RCMP spokesman.
Staff confronted him and, again, he fled. Police describe him as a heavier-set white male in his 40s with grey hair. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with baby blue and white stripes.
“We are looking for pictures of surveillance video from the area or anything that might be able to identify him more,” De Jong said.
Bayer said the victim was grateful to get his bag back. Inside was food and supplies for his pet gecko.
Bayer said he wasn’t sure what motivated him to chase after the man.
“It was just kind of instinct. I wasn’t really thinking when I saw it ... . It was a couple seconds before (I realized) ‘This guy stole something, I’m going to go stop him,’” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about the dangers over what happened.”
His friend’s dad later commented on how there was “some Hawaii Five-0 stuff going,” Bayer said, but he also received a lecture on the risks of chasing a suspect.
De Jong offered the same message. “Certainly, we encourage people to call 911 when they see a break-and-enter in progress. You never know what the suspect criminal is going to do in retaliation to being chased.
He’s fortunate the guy dropped the bag and he was able to get the property back to the victim,” he said, noting the suspect was seen carrying a metal pipe at the time. “It’s not a good idea, generally speaking.”
Thomas’s mother Jeannie said she had mixed feelings when she heard about her 13-year-old crime fighter.
“At first you’re kind of really proud of him and then you worry about what could have happened,” she said with a laugh. “It was good fun.”
