A grandfather in Columbus, Ohio helped police stop an armed suspect. The man tripped the fleeing suspect as police chased him.
A hero grandfather tripped up an armed 18-year-old man in Ohio, allowing police officers to capture him after they fell behind in a chase.
The grandfather, identified only as "Bill", was waiting outside of a library in Columbus with his granddaughter on April 3 when he sprang into action totake down the fleeing suspect, identified as DeShawn Briggs.
"'Bill' assessed the situation as fast as he could, cane in hand," Columbus Police said in a Facebook post shared on Thursday, the Daily Mail reports.
"He heard officers yelling multiple times to drop the gun. 'Bill' says with officers lagging a bit behind the suspect he did what he could to help them nab the armed man."
The grandfather said he heard police sirens and saw a man running from police officers with his hand in his waistband.
This tripped up the suspect, sending him sprawling and causing the man's gun to scatter away as the man fell to the ground. Photo / Columbus Division of Police
Bill, who had a walking stick with him, said he thought the suspect had a lead on the officers and so decided to help them out.
Bill watched carefully and waited for the suspect to draw closer, then darted into his path as he passed by and stuck his leg out with perfect timing.
This tripped up the suspect, sending him sprawling and causing the man's gun to scatter away as the man fell to the ground.
The grandfather can then be seen dashing out of the way as armed officers jump out of a police van and descend on the suspect.
Bill said: "He went one way and the gun went the other way. I could see him trying to pick it up so I got out of the way."
Officer body camera footage showed an officer on foot with his gun drawn, running up on the suspect after "Bill" tripped him, noting the weapon and shouting, "Gun! Gun! Gun Gun! and 'Get down!'"
Officers quickly ran up to where the suspect had fallen, face first on the ground, and took him into custody.
One officer can be heard saying, breathlessly, "You're lucky you dropped that gun man. Boy, you almost got shot."
Police said the grandfather's quick moves, which caused the gun to fly out of the suspect's reach, likely saved the suspect's life by disarming him and allowing officers to catch up to him.
They recovered a 9MM Glock pistol with a magazine containing 29 rounds from the suspect, who was arrested and taken to the Franklin County Jail.
The officers seemed delighted with Bill's actions, with one saying he could see the grandfather planning his intervention moments before the trip.
"Community involvement, be it by courage, bravery and/or fancy footwork, helped take a criminal off the streets of Columbus," the department said in its post on Thursday.
Police said the suspect had a lengthy criminal record and went back to jail.
An official can later be seen shaking Bill's hand and thanking him for his bravery.
He said: "We have no idea if that might have turned out differently if you hadn't done what you did. I cannot thank you enough sir. You are an outstanding community member."
The police also showed they had a sense of humor, title the video they shared with the headline, 'Talk about fancy footwork.'
"Thank you 'Bill' for sticking your leg out for us," the department said.
Briggs was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault, one count of aggravated menacing and one count of felony possession of a weapon while under a disability on April 3.
He was subsequently arrested on April 15, and charged with misdemeanor possession of drugs, misdemeanor driving without a valid license, felony possession of a concealed weapon, felony possession of a weapon while under a disability, and felony tampering with evidence.
