A Good Samaritan in Venice, California, took down a burglary suspect and restrained him until police arrived Monday night, a local outlet reported.
The Good Samaritan’s decisive actions happened after a spate of smash and grab robberies that targeted seven businesses in the Venice and Del Rey area, according to ABC7. Los Angeles police said they arrested three suspects in connection with two of the burglaries, but it is unknown if the seven robberies were connected, ABC7 reported. (RELATED: Video Shows Good Samaritan Land Wicked Cross Body Block On Criminal Fleeing Police)
CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Three suspects were arrested in connection with a string of burglaries in the Venice and Del Rey area, and video shows a neighbor jumping into action to stop one of them. @abc7eric shares more. https://t.co/9LNuxAuYcl
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 27, 2024
The suspect in the Venice robbery was tackled to the ground by good Samaritan, Pual Markham, who said he heard the suspect smash a restaurant’s window and run away with the cash register, the outlet reported.
When the suspect came back to steal the tip money, he jumped out the window right in front of Markham, according to ABC7.
The suspect, a transgender woman according to LAPD, “[j]umped back out the window, like, right into my arms…so, a little wrestling match ended over there,” Markham said. “I locked them up, sat on top of them for like 20, 25 minutes [until the] cops showed up.”
The owner of the restaurant then arrived and helped hold down the suspect, who can be heard pleading to be let go on cell phone video of the incident, ABC7 reported.
“It’s my neighborhood, man. That’s it,” Markham said. “There’s no Good Samaritan, there’s no hero … I live here. This is my neighborhood.”
Police have not released an estimate for the amount of cash and merchandise lifted in the overnight robberies, ABC7 reported.
The incidents are currently under investigation, and police announced that the three arrested suspects are being questioned, according to the outlet.