11 Incredible Moments When Everyday Heroes Teamed Up With Police to Catch Criminals

In many cases, the first responders to an emergency are people who aren't necessarily trained for the job: Bystanders and passers-by. Although many of us have been called upon to provide first aid or other assistance in a split second during a crisis, others have gone above and beyond to help the police do their jobs—chasing down suspects (sometimes tripping them), offering amateur radio assistance, even freeing officers from restraint and, in at least one case, offering them a ride to catch a suspect.

Read on for 11 incredible moments when everyday heroes joined forces with police to apprehend criminals recently (and probably somewhere near you).

On June 11, in Martin County, Florida, an armed man started running from deputies in a parking lot. Surveillance video shows a trucker physically blocking the 19-year-old suspect, grabbing him with both arms, then throwing him to the ground.

"Truckers are used to taking part in long convoys, but this convoy looked a little different," the local sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. "As he stood next to his semi, the Good Samaritan truck driver watched a line of MCSO deputies running after a fleeing man. It felt right to help. So the mystery trucker, with skills of a linebacker … stepped in and created the wall that people joke about hitting when they have a bad headache."

"It was a 'Smokey and the Bandit' moment, but backwards," the sheriff's office added.

In April, a Philadephia-area pizza delivery driver unwittingly made the last stop of a high-speed police chase. Officers were pursuing a stolen car when it crashed on a suburban street. The suspect got out to flee. It happened just yards from where Tyler Morell was delivering for Cocco's Pizza.

Because his hands were full, Morell stuck out a foot, tripping the alleged thief, who fell to the ground and was promptly collared by police. "I got him!" Morell shouted. The whole thing was caught on the customer's doorbell camera.

"He gave us the help we needed. By tripping him, it gave us the time to catch up with the gentleman," said Brookhaven Police Chief Michael Vice. "I am so sick of seeing crime go on, especially half a mile down the road," said Morell. "So if they needed a hand or a foot, I was there."

On Aug. 1, 2022, surveillance video captured a man punching an elderly patron who was dining outside of Rafallo's Pizza on Hollywood Boulevard, then grabbing the man's wallet and phone. Within seconds, the attacker was being chased by Tim Ratcliff, owner of the neighboring restaurant Hollywood Shin. Ratcliff collared the mugger and pinned him to the ground at the corner.

The restaurateur said he used "a judo move" to keep the struggling man immobilized for nearly 10 minutes before police arrived. "He ruined my glasses. They're destroyed," Ratcliff told KTLA. "He was actually trying to bite me a whole bunch of times." NBC Los Angeles reported that the suspect was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and robbery.

Earlier this month, a man in Oklahoma was driving on a rural highway when he saw a woman being punched by a man in the car ahead of him. So he called 911 and tailed the vehicle, providing details to the emergency dispatcher so police could intervene.

"He could see the male driver physically attacking the female passenger. It was brutal, it was violent. She was being hit, she was being punched," said Tulsa County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Casey Roebuck.

"He was relaying the location and what was occurring throughout the 911 call all the way from out in the county, where he called us, into the city of Tulsa, where the suspect was headed." Roebuck added that "at several points during this journey, the woman is just hanging out the window trying to get people's help, trying to escape the car."

The woman was ultimately thrown from the car at a Tulsa stoplight (she was treated for minor injuries), and the Good Samaritan followed suspect Robert Wayne Grayson back to his apartment, reporting the location to police. Grayson was quickly arrested. "I find it nothing short of remarkable, and he is to be commended," Roebuck said of the Good Samaritan.

"He also did so safely. He didn't confront the suspect in this case. He observed and he reported. He did this perfectly."

Last month, Everardo Navarro went viral for helping a California Highway Patrol officer out of a jam with a suspect. Navarro was driving to an event in Orange County when he saw a man had put the CHP officer in a headlock. Navarro pulled his car over and started punching the man, then helped free the officer from the headlock.

KABC reported the officer had just given the suspect a verbal warning when the suspect attacked him. Navarro said he saw the altercation and just acted on instinct.

"I jumped out of my car because of him, but in the end, I was thankful everybody was OK, including the suspect," he said. The man who attacked the officer was charged with assaulting a peace officer and resisting arrest.

In Boston on June 2, three men helped a police officer arrest a defiant man who was suspected of drunk driving, Boston 25 reported. Police say 37-year-old James Shields ran through a red light and collided with another car before his SUV sped away from the scene. Several witnesses called the police with a vehicle and partial plate description; two of them followed the SUV. "What we were seeing him doing and the way he was driving showed a total disregard for anybody," said one of the men, who wanted to remain anonymous.

The two witnesses trailed the suspect for two miles into a strip mall parking lot, where Shields got out of his vehicle and ignored a responding officer's commands. "He wasn't complying," said one of the witnesses who followed the SUV. "Once his hand went in his pocket, I wasn't sure if he had anything in there or not."

The witnesses then helped the female officer bring Shields to the ground. "We took him down," one of the men said. "She was able to get one cuff on him, and it took the two of us to get his other arm around to get the other cuff on."

A third man rushed out of a nearby restaurant to help. Still, it took additional officers to get the suspect into the back of a police car. Police praised the Good Samaritans' intervention. "They jumped right in, and it could've gone really bad, really quickly, if they didn't act as quickly as they did," said Sgt. Stephen Mulligan.

In March in New York City, a passerby helped police take down a man who was waving a semi-automatic rifle in broad daylight. The suspect, Jason Fleming, stood in the doorway of a corner market flashing a handgun, then took off running down the sidewalk, brandishing the semi-automatic rifle while a police officer gave chase.

A nearby civilian stood in Fleming's path and pushed him into a nearby fence, holding him until police officers could put him in handcuffs.

In December 2022, a Springfield, Massachusetts, police officer attempted to arrest a man suspected of robbing a nearby grocery store at knifepoint when a struggle ensued. Pedro Perez was driving by, jumped out of his vehicle, and tried to help the officer restrain the suspect as another officer pulled up. The suspect was able to grab the officer's gun and fired two shots, which narrowly missed both police officers before he was finally restrained.

"Without the help of Mr. Perez, there undoubtedly would have been a much different outcome to this incident," said Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood. "His actions in all likelihood saved the lives of two Springfield police officers."

In August 2022, people enjoying a sunny day in a Valencia, Spain, park witnessed a shocking scene when a man appeared to try drowning a woman in a nearby fountain. According to local media reports, the man became enraged that his cell phone was stolen and blamed the woman.

Chilling video appeared to show him holding her by the hair and pushing her head toward the water in the fountain. "He's going to kill her," an observer is heard saying. Luckily, a group of men jumped into the fountain to rescue the woman and contain the man. The woman was later treated for minor injuries, while the 52-year-old man, who was not named, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

In January 2022, a former track athlete helped Houston police take down a suspect who was driving a stolen truck. Officers tried to pull the suspect over, but he got out of the car and ran, ABC 13 reported. Video showed a man—identified only as a 26-year-old named Devin—getting out of his car and giving chase.

"I saw him, the suspect, running all the way down, and he was already 50 yards from the officer. So, I turned around, sped up and blocked him in, and I got out of the car and started running," Devin told KBTX. "I was not even thinking. I just got out, like a hero moment."

Devin had previously worked as a security guard, which came in handy when he apprehended the suspect. "What I was thinking about in the moment was to make sure I had all his hands real tight because I didn't know if he had something in his pockets," he said.

In June 2022, a man helped a police officer catch a man suspected of car theft by offering the officer a ride. Bodycam video shows that during a traffic stop, the suspect got out of the car and started to run. One officer pursued the man on foot, and his partner fell behind. Noticing this, a man driving by offered the officer a ride.

The officer got into the back seat and directed the driver, ultimately catching the suspect and putting him under arrest. The officer who got a ride, identified to WFAA as J. Porter, was heard on the body camera saying, "Had to get taxied, don't mind me."

The volunteer driver, identified as Jimmy Davis, told WFAA that he just wanted to help. "My instincts just kicked in," Davis told the station. "I was glad I was in the right place at the right time. I did what I had to do, and I would do it again."