Bystander stops jewelry robbery by crashing thieves’ getaway car into jewelry store – Jalopnik

There are multiple ways to stop a robbery. Jumping into the running getaway car and crashing into the store being robbed isn’t the first course of action I would think of, but that’s what happened at Gold Rush Jewelers in Petaluma, California, reports ABC7 News.

Police say six suspects stormed the store, armed with hammers, pepper spray and a firearm. They allegedly started destroying the jewelry boxes and stealing the contents while holding employees at gunpoint. Then an anonymous passerby saw what was going on and decided to do something about it.

He said the suspect’s getaway car was idling outside, so he sprang into action.
“I went over to get the keys from the car and noticed it was still running. I couldn’t do anything because it was a key fob. I rammed the car into the building to stop them and he actually did that too. Because two of them got caught,” he said.

The crash destroyed much of the storefront, as well as a roof pillar. The suspects were understandably surprised by this sudden turn of events. They decided it was time to leave and got into the wrecked getaway car to escape after pepper spraying the man who had intervened.

No matter how good the bystander’s intentions were, I question his methods. From ABC7 News:

“That’s wild. Very brave of them. Maybe not the best idea: get a getaway car and ram into the store,” said Markus Hakkarainen.

Courageous is one way of putting it. The police would probably tell you not to bother with it at all, especially if the robbers were clearly armed. Another idea might have been to simply drive the car away. That would have forced all the thieves to escape on foot, potentially increasing their chances of being caught. It’s also worth repeating that driving a car into a store also puts the safety of the employees at risk – and not just the robbers.

Petaluma police have not said anything about the bystander’s actions, so we don’t know if he will be charged or commended for what he did (and the additional property damage he caused). Vigilante justice may seem heroic, but we generally recommend leaving the job of policing to the police, and occasionally to the snow plows.