Posted on 11/18/2005 5:01:27 PM PST by SandRat
11/18/2005 - ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) -- Anchorage police are calling two Airmen heroic for their actions in helping catch a truck thief.
Staff Sgts. Joseph Harder and William Young, of the 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron’s aerospace ground equipment section, pulled off the feat.
The two were on their way to a restaurant, for a going-away luncheon, when a delivery truck crossed their path Nov. 9.
“We had just pulled into the parking lot when the truck cut us off,” Sergeant Harder said. “Then we noticed the delivery driver running after his truck with his hands in the air.”
The driver had just finished making his deliveries to a local grocery store when he came out to find his truck leaving without him. He gave chase.
“We pulled up next to the driver,” Sergeant Young said. “I rolled down my window and asked him if his truck had been stolen. He said, ‘yeah,’ and asked us if we could follow it.”
While the driver called police, the two Airmen took off after the thief in Sergeant Harder’s pickup truck. At first, the thief didn’t know the Airmen were following.
“He turned down an alley and stopped at the first stop sign -- but blew right through the next one when he realized we were following him,” Sergeant Harder said.
From then on, the driver was on a mission to get away.
“He was driving crazy,” Sergeant Harder said. “He was slipping and sliding all over the road and the back door was open. We could see a pallet and boxes sliding around.”
Then the driver turned into a residential area and began leading the sergeants through a Mountain View neighborhood. This continued until he turned down a dead-end street, the sergeants said.
“He turned around in the cul-de-sac and almost hit us,” Sergeant Harder said.
At this point it was the Airmen’s turn to ask for help.
“After we turned around, we saw some people standing by a truck,” Sergeant Young said. “We pulled up and asked if one of them had a cell phone. One of them did, and I told him ‘Stolen truck, call the police.’”
Shortly after that, the driver got tired of the sergeants on his tail and decided to make a break for it on foot.
“He finally pulled into an apartment complex and jumped out,” Sergeant Harder said. “I jumped out and took off after him on foot.”
Sergeant Young tried to cut him off.
Sergeant Harder stayed about 15 to 20 yards behind the thief, until the man jumped the fence to Clark Elementary School and was able to gain some ground.
“I saw him jump the fence, but three yards left of where he jumped was the entrance, so I ran through there and was able to gain some distance,” he said.
The suspect then headed for the school and went right in the door with Sergeant Harder hot on his tail.
“As soon as we got into the school, the bell rang and the halls flooded with kids,” he said.
As they waded through the children, Sergeant Harder caught up to the thief.
“I grabbed his jacket just as he reached the back door. He asked me, ‘Why are you chasing me?’ I said, ‘You stole a truck.’ He said, ‘I didn’t steal nothing.’”
It was then the school security guards reached the men and took the thief into custody, Sergeant Harder said.
Sergeant Young arrived just as Sergeant Harder was chasing the crook into the school, and met the first police patrol car.
“The patrol car reached the intersection the same time I did. They asked me for a location, and I told them ‘they went into the school,’” Sergeant Young said.
Soon, the suspect was in custody.
Lt. Paul Honeman, director of public affairs for the Anchorage Police Department, said the actions of Sergeants Harder and Young were immediate and, most importantly, safe.
“These guys wasted no time in reacting and responding,” he said. “And, they did it as safe as it could be done in this situation.”
The lieutenant said police recovered the truck undamaged and that “the bad guy was arrested for vehicle theft.”
“I spoke to the delivery driver, and he was very grateful for the help from these two servicemembers,” the lieutenant said.
After giving their statements to the police, the two sergeants went back to the restaurant. They wondered if anyone would still be there -- until they remembered that they had the going-away present.
Their explanation for being late was not initially received well.
“No one believed us when we told them why we were late,” Sergeant Young said. “They thought we were making it up.”
Lieutenant Honeman said police do not encourage people to put themselves in harms way.
However, he said, “We always ask that people look out for each other.”
To Sergeant Young, looking out for people is just part of wearing the uniform.
“As servicemembers, it is our responsibility to protect the streets, regardless of whether it’s the streets of Baghdad or the streets of Anchorage.”
Said the Airmen --- “As servicemembers, it is our responsibility to protect the streets, regardless of whether it’s the streets of Baghdad or the streets of Anchorage.”
/john
As an ex-zoomie myself, these guys make me proud. Hope their commander gives them an award for their actions.
/john
BTTT
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