By Marianne Lincoln

SPANAWAY, WA — I was out for a morning jog on A Street. I heard the sound of a vehicle skidding in the gravel behind me. Then there was the voice of a man shouting, “Come back here!”

I kept going and dodged behind a semi trailer parked at the edge of the road and called 911. It sounded like a domestic incident. There was a black truck and shouting at 174th and A Street. I might have been saving a woman’s life.

By the time all the units had responded there was five, one unmarked. It turned out the man in the truck had seen what appeared to be a juvenile who was on a bicycle, jump into his back yard and grab up several of his possessions.

Steve Drury, says the last straw was when the suspect grabbed his fishing pole. He puffed up with the look of someone whose prized possession was being taken, “Okay, that does it!” he told me. He jumped in his truck and took off after the suspect.

He skidded to a stop and started chasing the suspect behind a multiplex until on A Street. When the deputies arrived, he got his possessions back and the youth was arrested.

Thinking this through further, the accused was a  young and rather attractive boy. The deputies spent some time taking to him after the victim departed.

Those of us who live in the area understand there are several bicycles that roam around, scoping the area for opportunities for theft. Those riders are mostly older than this young man. There are several homeless people living on the vacant properties the Brinks own in the area that create additional suspected improper activities. These properties have been vacant for many years and the owners don’t seem to be in any hurry to do anything with them. When Tacoma started their campaign to clean up the Hilltop, more of these unfortunates and undesireables started showing up in Parkland and Spanaway.

The victim has his fishing pole back, but hopefully there is still time to redeem the young man who pulled off this heist. It’s all part of society doing the best job it can for everyone.