A Perth local’s run to the bottle shop has ended in them performing a dramatic citizen’s arrest after watching an embarrassing attempted car theft unfold.
Adam Breen was in the checkout of Dan Murphy’s in Carine, picking up some drinks for his birthday party, when he watched a “sketchy” looking individual bolt out of the shops carrying allegedly stolen drinks.
“It’s that easy is it?” Breen said to another patron in-line.
As staff and customers watched the man in hi-vis clothing run out the store towards the car park, another person in the shop stated: “that’s the guy in the (allegedly) stolen car”
Intrigued by the absurd situation, Breen decided the drinks could wait as he wanted to record the alleged thief.
“I’ve walked outside then obviously seen him jump in the car, no licence plate, no nothing and I just was like ‘this is classic’,” Breen told PerthNow.
Recording the attempted getaway, Breen watched in hysterics as the man tried to speed off with the handbrakes still on.
“You’re joking me . . . You are taking the piss,” he said in the viral recording.
The beat-up Mazda’s swift getaway attempt was short lived.
Making it on to the main road before the driver got out of the car to investigate why the back wheels wouldn’t cooperate.
“He’s jumped out and yelled this car’s f..ked or something,” Breen said.
“That’s when I said, ‘I reckon the handbrakes might be on’, and he’s had something of a eureka moment, and I thought ‘f... maybe I shouldn’t of said that’.”
Despite the light bulb revelation, the alleged car jacker decided to ditch the Mazda and try his hand at alleged nabbing a new car.
That’s when Breen decided enough was enough.
“He was trying to leg it and I said ‘Oh you won’t outrun me’.”
The dramatic chase ended in heroic take down with the Carine man restraining him until police arrived.
Not before the alleged thief managed to headbutt Breen and leave him with a black eye for his efforts.
“The cherry on top was he s..t himself, he soiled his pants,” he said.
“I was very glad to see the police pull up, because I was worried the squeeze I had on him was going to inject some of that out of his pants.
“He was like ‘oh look at your eye’, and I was like ‘mate check your pants’.”
Breen managed to make it to his party with no dramas despite the alleged thief having a knife on him, but received some questionable looks for his shiner.
Footage of Breen’s escapade has since been uploaded to social media and gone viral, with locals praising his brave efforts.
“Somebody buy this guy a few beers for me please,” one comment said.
“Doing god’s work. Streets are safer thanks to you, lad,” another wrote.
The official Solo Australia account even chimed in, saying: “Our hero.”
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