Washington homeowner Eric Smith recounted on Fox News Monday the shocking story of how a pair of robbers who tried to break into his car hit him with a getaway car after he confronted them. .
Smith appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” and spoke about his April 3 encounter with two serial motor vehicle prowlers who were attempting to drive through his pickup truck. according to To Fox13. Fox host Laura Ingraham asked the homeowner why she confronted the thieves over her car.
“I think there was a mentality and a mindset that I didn’t want this to happen. I keep seeing it. It’s a growing problem. Criminal activity is becoming more popular in this area. As soon as I saw it open, I thought, ‘No, that’s not going to happen to me,”’ Smith said.
The video from Smith’s home security camera begins by showing a red car waiting on the road as a second thief can be seen inside Smith’s truck. (Related: Toronto Police Department tells car owners to place keyholes near front doors to make them easier to steal)
Smith then runs into the camera’s view and we see the thief in the car trying to run away, but before he can get into the car, Smith grabs him. As the second burglar struggles to escape the homeowner’s grasp, the driving burglar is seen pulling away from them and making a B-line before forcing Smith onto the hood of the truck as he crashes into it. Can be seen.
“As soon as I got the animal, I could tell by its voice, its weight, size, [and] He was calm and I could tell he was young. From that moment on, I was like, OK, I’m going to hang on to this guy and call the police. But things quickly changed when the driver of the car backed up and tried to cut between us. That’s exactly what happened and we were very lucky and fortunate that it ended the way it did,” Smith said.
The homeowner also said that once he was safely out of the car, he took out his cell phone to record the license plate and tried to take a picture of the thief’s face.
Since 2019, violent crime rates in Washington state have been on the rise, rising by 26%. according to to 2023 report from state criminal justice data. According to the data, there were 261,323 real estate index crime incidents reported to authorities in 2022, giving the state “the highest real estate crime rate in the region and the second highest real estate crime rate in the country.” It has become.
