Posted on 02/19/2012 7:33:33 AM PST by csvset
When two alleged teenage thieves tried to flee a Best Buy, their escape attempts - dodging cars and wielding a small samurai sword - played out like something from the game systems they were trying to steal.
Doug Kennedy and his son were heading toward the store on Independence Boulevard on Wednesday night when he saw two or three youths getting away with merchandise. A store employee was screaming after them.
"I just thought, no, you can't do this," Kennedy said Thursday.
The Virginia Beach resident tackled one. As he tried to pin him down, one of the teen's hands came free and a swordlike knife sliced across his jacket, Kennedy said.
The knife didn't pierce his clothes or skin, Kennedy said, but he rolled away and the boy jumped up. Carrying what appeared to be a small samurai sword, the teenager ran across the boulevard.
A car skidded trying to stop, almost clipping the boy, Kennedy said.
"I kind of played 'Frogger' getting across," Kennedy said. "I thought, there's no way he's gonna outrun me."
On the other side of the street, another citizen showed up to help, Kennedy said. That man tried to knock the knife out of the boy's hand and tackled him to the ground, Kennedy said.
Then they returned the teenager and his loot to the store, where police took him into custody. Police spokeswoman Grazia Moyers said a second suspect, also a teenage boy, was found near the store.
One of the teens was charged with armed robbery, conspiracy and two counts of attempt malicious assault. The second was charged with robbery.
The boys, ages 15 and 16, are being held at the Virginia Beach Juvenile Detention Center without bond, Moyers said.
Sarah Hutchins, 757-222-5131, sarah.hutchins@pilotonline.com
Quakers Gone Wild.
Half of Virginia Beach must be retired and active duty military. Lot’s of Marines there. It doesn’t say much in the story about who the people that caught the thieves are, but I can’t think of a dumber place to try something like this.
“two or three YOUTHS.”
Enough said, probably.
If the employee had chased them or tackled them, he would have been fired.
Good job, citizens! Everyone is fed up with entitlement and cheating.
So, they may actually be old?
“Good job, citizens!”
Right on! Always appreciate a good citizen’s arrest.
VA Beach - I lived there about 25 years ago. It was still really nice then, having only a couple of emerging “projects” with moderately scummy people.
There were Guardian Angels there also, they tended to look after places like the 7-11. And with all the active military around, you felt pretty safe.
I went thru there a few years ago and boy, what a change. The whole “culture” there was different. I found it to have lost it’s beachy type charm, and now is a place I would avoid.
It’s cool to read that someone took down a punk thief like that. As dangerous as that could potentially be (for the good guy) I wish it happened more often. Geeze, one time I saw some young teens trying to swipe swim suits at an Old Navy, so I nipped over to a clerk and told her what was going on, she just looked at me blankly and said, “ummmmm, OK”. That was it. She never even went over to check it out.
In a robbery, if one is armed they are both armed, under the law.
I love it when adults run down teens.
I had the pleasure many years ago.
Today I’d have to make it in the first 100 yards.
A Kennedy? Diluted DNA no doubt!!!!
Haven’t seen Fox News’ Doug Kennedy in a long time.
If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime....
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