By PAUL G TURNQUEST

Chief Reporter

pturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THREE young men who captured a would-be robber on Churchill Street on Wednesday evening said they had “enough” of their community being terrorised by criminals.

Dakota Wilmore, Christopher Gibson, and Rashad Stubbs said when they saw four “guys” breaking into a neighbour’s home on their street, they leapt into action.

“We were chilling out, watching out for the area, when we heard this screaming. We didn’t really know what was going on until we walked out to the road and saw (their neighbour) on the ground and these fellas running down the road. So we just had to take a chance,” Dakota said.

He, with Christopher and Rashad, took off after the robbers chasing one of them down eventually in the Old Trail graveyard near Industrial Park.

As former self-professed “bad boys” themselves, the trio said they used the opportunity to “big up” their neighbour and let the people see that they are trying to change.

“So we took after them. A couple of them got away, but we ended up catching the main culprit. We brought him back and we let the gentleman know we are looking out for the neighbourhood more than anything else. After the police came, they shook our hands and asked us our names and we told them our names. They looked at us three, because we used to do things like that too, but we slowed down, because sometimes you gatta show your appreciation for the neighbourhood,” Dakota said.

According to the young men, the intended target of the robbery had recently hired one of the robbers at a local construction company. Reportedly the robbers had been canvassing the house for a few days, driving up and down the street as they planned their robbery.

“When we took off after them we thought they had a gun,” young Dakota added. “When we really catch up with the first one, I was shocked. I was sayin’ this guy has the gun, but I still took the chance and went behind him. And when he dropped his weapon, I saw it was a knife.”

Mr Stubbs said that having had to run down the robber for such a great distance, they felt obliged to “tap him up a bit” before the police were called. Another neighbourhood friend, Perez Bowe, assisted in tying up the would-be robber.

When asked if they were frightened that there could be retaliation by the other three men who escaped capture, Mr Stubbs said those guys clearly know where they hang out. He said they were not going to hide.

“Other people from other areas is come in Soldier Road and make Soldier Road name look bad. Then they is go where they live and all the heat is come down on Soldier Road niggas. We don’t know these fellas from a can of white paint. But they know where we does be. We hang here every day, 24/7. We gat back up. If we see a car pull up and the car don’t move or nothing, we will have to do what we have to do, because they come lookin’ for problems,” he said.

Police currently have in their custody a 20-year-old man from Union Village in connection with this matter.

A press statement from Superintendent Stephen Dean applauded the efforts of “alert residents” who sprang into action and detained the suspect. The statement thanked the members of the general public for their continued cooperation and support in the fight against crime.

Asked if they considered themselves to be heroes, the three said they were “just doing what they thought was right.”