Grocery bagger wrestles shoplifting suspect to the ground - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Grocery bagger wrestles shoplifting suspect to the ground

Posted: Updated:
By Steve Kiggins - email

  • More WALB News10 HeadlinesMore News Headlines

  • Wednesday, June 19 2013 9:45 AM EDT2013-06-19 13:45:09 GMT
    COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - About 100 soldiers are scheduled to return to Fort Benning in Georgia after a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports (http://bit.ly/17WfBX4) that
    About 100 soldiers are scheduled to return to Fort Benning in Georgia after a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. The unit is made up of soldiers assigned at Fort Benning and medical personnel from throughout the Army.

  • Wednesday, June 19 2013 8:49 AM EDT2013-06-19 12:49:18 GMT
    By JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press BERLIN (AP) - Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as
    Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

  • Wednesday, June 19 2013 12:44 AM EDT2013-06-19 04:44:24 GMT
    Visitors paddling through south Georgia enjoyed a street party in their honor tonight.They gathered in downtown Camilla.Several hundred canoeists and kayakers are taking part in Paddle Georgia 2013. It's
    Visitors paddling through south Georgia enjoyed a street party in their honor tonight.They gathered in downtown Camilla.
    •   
COVINGTON, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -

A suspected shoplifter tried walking out of a Covington grocery store with steaks stuffed down his pants, but after he allegedly punched a loss prevention officer in the face, a 17-year-old grocery bagger stepped in.

The suspect didn't know the grocery bagger was actually a Covington Police Explorer, and the whole thing was caught on camera.

Click here to watch the raw video.

"He struck her in the face, then I went over to help her and stop him," recalled Robert Bradford, the grocery bagger turned crime fighter. "He hit her. You don't hit a lady, and that's what my parents always taught me."

The cameras didn't catch 42-year-old Jeffery Pace allegedly punching the loss prevention officer in her face. But Robert saw it and before Pace could flee, Robert wrestled him to the ground.

"I wouldn't call myself a hero, I just did what everybody else would do," explained Robert.

Robert had just started his very first job bagging groceries at the Kroger grocery store in Covington.  But Pace didn't count him being part of the Covington Police Explorers, a program for teenagers who are interested in becoming police officers.

"The next thing I know, I was on him," said Robert.

During the struggle, Robert heard a familiar voice.

"I heard my name being yelled and I looked around and it sounded like my dad and then I realized my phone had butt-dialed him," laughed Robert.

"I was saying, 'Robert, Robert!'" exclaimed Robert's father, Capt. Philip Bradford of the Covington Police Department. "I heard all of this commotion and I heard someone saying, ‘Get on the ground, and stop! You better stop.'"

The surveillance video showed Robert as he took his phone out of his pocket and ended the call.

That made Phillip Bradford spring into action.

"Immediately I panicked and I jumped in my car," said Philip Bradford.

By the time Philip Bradford arrived at the grocery store, police had already arrested Pace. Then Robert tucked in his shirt and headed right back to work.

"He did good, I was proud of him," said Philip Bradford.

"It just happened real fast, it was instinct and I'm ready for round two," laughed Robert.

Pace was charged with shoplifting, public drunkenness and battery. Investigators say he also violated his probation.

Copyright 2012 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation).  All rights reserved.