Bodychecking a robbery suspect was not on Ashley Russell-Taylor’s to-do list last Thursday morning, but when a man came barrelling toward him out of the Capilano Mall People’s Jewellers, that’s just what he did.
Russell was having tea at about 10:30 a.m. in the mall with his infant daughter when he heard cries for security. He passed the child to a friend who worked near the jewelry store and went to investigate.
“It was kind of a faceoff between myself and the individual who was running,” said Russell-Taylor. After he took the suspect to the ground, other pursuers quickly pinned the man down and held him until police arrived.
Three others escaped but were arrested later.
“It’s pretty compelling to see how many people worked together to stop this (robbery) from happening,” said RCMP Cpl. Peter DeVries. “Without their help this case would have been extremely difficult to solve.
“That being said, we recommend that people don’t become involved in crimes, because there is a high risk of personal injury.”
Mall patrons were uninjured, despite pepper spray being discharged during the attempted robbery.
