Sandy MaloneLos Angeles, CA – A Hollywood restaurant owner chased down a homeless man who brazenly robbed an elderly customer as he sat eating at an outside table in July (video below).
Surveillance video from the restaurant showed a homeless man wandering among the tables on the restaurant’s patio before suddenly reaching over and sucker punching an older man who was sitting down eating.
Then he stole the elderly man’s phone and wallet and fled the restaurant, KTVT reported.
Tim Ratcliff, who owns the restaurant, saw the attack on his customer and went after the thief, the video showed.
Surveillance video from a building nearby showed Ratcliff chasing the thief and tackling him at the corner of La Brea and Hollywood, KTVT reported.
The video showed the suspect struggled and fought to escape but Ratcliff pinned him down and held on while his girlfriend called 911.
“I took him down and just waited there until the police arrived,” Ratcliff said.
When police arrived on the scene nine minutes later, Ratcliff was still detaining the struggling thief, the video showed.
“I was not gonna lie, the adrenaline was a lot at that point, and afterwards it was exhausting it felt like I had worked out the next day for quite a bit,” he told KTVT.
The attack on the elderly diner occurred the same day that the Los Angeles City Council voted to increase the number of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers assigned to Hollywood.
Ratcliff said the additional patrols couldn’t come soon enough, KTVT reported.
“Even one of the officers and I talked about it… they’re tired of it… a lot of people like myself are tired of this type of thing happening… we’re seeing more and more people just not putting up with it and taking it into their own hands… which I’m glad for… and I’d happily do it again,” the restaurant owner said.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below:
Holly Matkin
