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Man crashes stolen vehicle in South Austin neighborhood
Several neighbors in South Austin recently took crime fighting into their own hands. After a stolen truck crashed in their neighborhood, they tackled a suspect as he tried to get away, and then held him down until police arrived.
AUSTIN, Texas - Some neighbors in South Austin took crime fighting into their own hands Tuesday night.
It started with what was supposed to be a laid-back night for Matthew Brunell.
"My girlfriend and I were just at her place when heard this huge crash outside, so I put my slippers on, and we went out to see what was going on," said Brunell. "We just saw this mangled truck, my girlfriend’s car and my car, and they were all just totally destroyed."
Neighbors gathered that two people had stolen a truck from down the road. One of the men in the truck had already run off by the time Brunell got outside. The other got a late start, to his detriment.
"I called 911 put it on speaker and started after him, all in my slippers," said Brunell, who was joined by others neighbors. "He turned around and was saying, ‘I have a gun, I’m going to shoot you if you follow me.'"
They kept pace from a distance, and grew in number.
"The further we went, the more people that joined in," said Brunell. "We ended up with about six people going after this guy."
Eventually, the man was tackled to the ground and held down until police arrived and arrested him.
They later learned the truck owner appeared to have Ring video that captured a car driving up to his home and dropping the people off who stole his truck.
"Going from, planning to watch a TV show and make grilled cheese sandwiches, to 30 seconds later chasing a guy down the street in my slippers thinking he may have a gun and our cars are totaled..." said Brunell. "The neighbors are calling me Batman Blanco."
But perhaps the true hero are the slippers, still intact a day later.
"They’re crime fighting slippers," said Brunell. "If you’re going to fight crime, this is the model you want."
Brunell would like to buy his girlfriend a new car and is hoping anyone that knows of any deals will reach out.
APD confirmed they responded to a call Tuesday night and booked one man into the Travis County jail. The cause of the crash was not disclosed.