A citizen stepped in to try and stop a shoplifter from leaving a Target store, telling the suspect to “get a f***ing job.”
Crime reporter for California news station KTVU, Henry K. Lee, posted a video of the confrontation to Twitter.
The citizen, who wished to be known as Tiger, confronted the suspect at the entrance of the store and attempted to pull the bin of merchandise from his hands.
Tiger later yelled at the suspect, “Stop that s**t man! Get a f***ing job.”
Watch the video below:
“Stop that s— man! Get a f— job!” Citizen frustrated over thefts tries to stop @Target shoplifter. The suspect, Samuel Balcorta, was later arrested, per @ColmaPD pic.twitter.com/pV51VFw2Iq
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 12, 2022
Tiger later told the news station, “If you see something wrong, you better do something.”
According to police, the citizen witnessed the suspect putting roughly 40 to 50 pairs of jeans worth $2,000 in the bin, as the station reported.
“I just flipped the box so things spread out, so people watching me can see what’s going on, so they can tell which one is the bad guy, which one is the good guy,” Tiger said.
Colma police Cmdr. Sherwin Lum told said law enforcement “definitely appreciate citizens being very good witnesses” instead of stepping in to directly take action.
Lum added, “We highly recommend not to intervene or get physical with any of these suspects because again, the safety of the public is paramount.”
The station noted Tiger says he went out to follow the suspect into the parking lot “where he dropped the jeans and tried to get onto a bus.”
Tiger explained he feels good “doing the right thing.”
He continued, “I think if we speak up and do the right thing, life is much better and you sleep better at night.”
The defendant is reportedly in jail and has been charged with burglary and grand theft.
In November 2021, CNN reported “smash and grab” crimes swept upscale stores in major cities in the United States.
Pete Eliadis, a former law enforcement official and founder of security company Intelligence Consulting Partners, told the outlet the crimes had “nothing to do with the pandemic.”
He added, “The pandemic is overused at this point.”
