Citizen Apprehends Suspect Running From Police

An Arizona man saw a suspect running from police and decided to take action.

Matt Emerson was heading for McDonald’s when he saw a man running out of a Wells Fargo bank with two police officers chasing him.

Emerson told CBS5 that he saw the suspect run into the McDonald’s, so he followed him:

“I kind of got out of my car knowing that I didn’t see any cops around, I thought I’d take it into my own hands a little bit to help out. When I rushed in, first thing I could think of was ‘did you all see a guy run in here?’ And they said, ‘yeah, he went outside.'”

The suspect dashed toward a neighborhood, and Emerson went after him:

“As much of a sprint as a 230 pound guy can do in flip flops.”

Emerson approached the suspect and yelled for him to stop. Surprisingly, the suspect did.

“I didn’t think I had a voice like that. That would make someone stop,” said Emerson. “I told him to get his hand behind his back. I grabbed his hand and got his other hand. I had my knee like this (in the center of his back).”

The suspect, 48-year-old Ernest Zarza, was on the run because police caught him trying to cash a bad check with a stolen driver’s license.

Emerson said he’s always been interested in law enforcement work, but is keeping his day job.

Either way, it is refreshing to see citizens being alert and taking matters into their own hands.