Fist flattens would-be carjacker
Ordered to give up his keys, an Arlington man takes matters into his own hands.
MARYSVILLE - The would-be robber made threats and demanded keys to a van.
The van’s owner was having a rough day already.
The bad guy ended up with a fist in the face and a trip to jail.
“The suspect attempted to rob the wrong guy and got more than he could handle,” Marysville police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said Wednesday.
An Arlington contractor was the wrong guy.
The man, 39, requested that The Herald identify him only by his first name to protect his family.
John and his wife were leaving the All City Credit Union on Tuesday when the suspect approached them and asked if they had a vehicle, police said.
John pointed to his van. He thought the man may have backed into it in the parking lot.
“He told me to give him the keys or he was going to kill me,” John said.
John moved his wife back.
“Give it a shot,” he told the would-be robber.
The man, 39, swung at John and missed.
John didn’t. He hit the man. More than once. He said he wanted to make sure the stranger didn’t get up and make good on his threat to hurt him or his wife, who is recovering from a recent heart attack.
“I don’t advise anyone to do what I did. It could have turned real nasty real quick,” John said. “If he would have had a weapon, I would have handed over my keys.”
Bystanders urged the men to quit fighting. John stopped. He was floored when the man reached out to shake his hand.
“He said he hadn’t had his ass kicked that good in a while,” John said.
John ordered the man to sit down and wait for police. The suspect bolted. He was arrested a short time later and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree robbery.
“We certainly don’t encourage people to confront thieves, but we don’t discourage them from defending themselves,” Lamoureux said.
John said he was surprised the man chose him as a target.
“I don’t look like an easy victim,” he said.
John was nursing scraped and bruised knuckles Wednesday, but he said he worried about how the other man was doing.
The suspect fought with corrections officers at the jail and was doused with pepper spray, police said.
“I prayed for the guy last night,” John said. “I think he needs help. Hopefully he gets it and he can turn his life around.”