ABC News(EDMOND, Okla.) — Dramatic dash cam footage shows an heroic bystander stepping in and tackling a man, who was in the midst of attacking a police officer.
“It started with this man and another suspect using cloned credit cards to buy gift cards in a grocery store,” Jennifer Wagnon of the Edmond Police Department in Oklahoma told ABC News. The store clerk recognized the two suspects, who have been going to multiple stores in the metro area and doing the same thing, according to Wagnon.
“The clerk said, ‘I need to get my supervisor to approve this,’ and then they just ran out,” Wagnon said. The supervisor called the police department, who alerted a nearby officer on patrol.
“When the officer saw their vehicle he turned on his lights and sirens,” Wagnon explained, adding that “they pulled into a strip mall.” He went on to describe how the two suspects ran into a dance studio, the officer chased after them and a physical altercation ensued.
Dash cam footage shows one of the suspects dragging the police officer on the ground, kicking and punching him in the middle of a parking lot. Another officer stepped in and appears to try to restrain the suspect, meanwhile the second suspect appears to speed away in his car.
“One man was resisting, the other ran into the car and left his friend behind,” Wagnon said.
Suddenly, a courageous bystander is seen joining the altercation and tackling the suspect to the ground in a single move. The hero told the police department that he did not wish to be named in media reports, but Wagnon said the police department will recognize and thank him privately for stepping in the way he did.
“That’s pretty indicative of the community we serve in,” Wagnon told ABC News. “The community we serve in is very supportive of law enforcement.”
“We have, almost daily, people bringing in cards and cookies,” he added, “its definitely not something we take for granted.”
Wagnon said the police have one suspect in custody and are actively searching for the second.
The suspect who attacked the police officer, Yohanker Paradela-Moreu, is currently being held for a $200,000 bond at the county jail. Wagnon said formal charges have not yet been filed.
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