Got in a fight today…

January 25th, 2007

Hooded thiefFor real…

I was picking up Faye at the daycare center and as I was parking my bike I heard a loud noise, the sound of breaking glass and then an alarm going off. Without thinking twice I ran towards the noise and noticed a hooded guy on a bike, with a leather bag under his arms approaching me, fast.

Before I knew it I threw myself towards him and hit his body with my shoulder. He had picked up some speed so we both fell. He hit a brick wall and I spun around and landed on my knee. I got up before he did and still stumbling he threw the heavy bag at me and at the same time picked up the bike and started to get away again.

At that point I suddenly realized that we were fighting and that I either had to attack him again or he would get away. I picked up the bag and watched the guy drive away as fast as he could.

Very weird.

He could have had a knife or a gun and I keep thinking of what could have happened and whether what I did was a smart or a stupid thing to do.

I got the bag back which is good.
But I let the guy go which is bad.

I’m still alive which is good.
But I didn’t get the guy.

I would have liked to really hurt him.
But I’m glad he didn’t hurt me.

Am I a hero for attacking him.
Or a loser for not catching him.

Do you think he is at home right now and thinking about this stuff too?


10 Responses to “Got in a fight today…”

  1. Diederik on January 25, 2007 9:53 pm (21:53)

    just an other day at the office
    your are my favorite hero!

  2. erwin blom on January 26, 2007 12:00 am (0:00)

    Is this picture a picture of the guy? Mobile reporting?

  3. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on January 26, 2007 12:06 am (0:06)

    No this is a closed circuit videoframe of a guy steeling a laptop in the UK. I think. Found it on Google…

  4. mark on January 26, 2007 12:07 am (0:07)

    Wow, well, you did the right thing, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t get to wound-up about not catching the guy, you would’ve probably felt worse if you hadn’t done anything.

    >thinking about this stuff too?

    Well, maybe, but probably he lacks a conscience and the only thing on his mind will be how to do something like this again, so he can solve ‘his problem’ whatever that is and/or what his motivation was to do this in the first place.

    If I may ask, what did he try to steal actually?

  5. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on January 26, 2007 12:16 am (0:16)

    He was going for the bag which he ended up throwing at me. It was filled with papers, some books, a CD and some pens. The papers looked valuable but only to the owner.

  6. Rutger van Waveren on January 26, 2007 12:34 am (0:34)

    Understandable that you did what you did. In the past I did similar things (always leaving my girlfriend quite angry)… what can I say, there are risks, but you simply don’t think in these cases. Good reaction in my eyes.

  7. Martin Haring on January 26, 2007 12:48 pm (12:48)

    Were you able to return the bag to the rightfull owner or did you hand in the bag to the police?
    I think you did act instictively right and were lucky the guy wasn’t armed. But that’s also Holland. You don’t have too many people running around with a gun like within the USA.
    My compliments!

  8. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on January 26, 2007 12:56 pm (12:56)

    The bag was returned to the owner but I didn’t report anything to the police. I don’t really see the point of doing that. I’m sure the owner of the car will report it. I wouldn’t recognize the thief anyway.

  9. Jeroen on January 26, 2007 4:20 pm (16:20)

    I know this situation. Four years ago, when I was 18 and studied in Utrecht, I bought my first laptop (1500 euro’s) with my in the supermarket earned money. A month later I was working on my laptop in a not driving train at Utrecht Centraal. Suddenly a drug addict take my laptop. I don’t hasitated for a second and run after him. I catched the drug addict and fighted with him. I hit him so hard that bleed came off his head and he dropped my laptop and run away. Result: laptop back, but a crashed harddisk and deffect motherboard. It was compensated by the insurance company, because the laptop was taken with violence. After that occurrence i’ve never worked on a/my laptop in a train anymore.

  10. Uri L. on January 27, 2007 5:09 pm (17:09)

    on the last 3GSM (2006) I was witnessing an amazing scene when a pickpocket thief snatched a blackberry from our Australian friend.
    The Aussie, being hot blooded in nature, started to run after him through the alleys of the Ciutat Vella.
    After 10 mins he was back, with some blood on his face, and the blackberry at hand, smiling. Apparently he caught the lad, had some box fight, and got his gadget back.
    Don’t mess with Australians.

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