NewsCrime

Actions

PD: Phoenix theft victim rides on truck's running board to capture suspect

Posted
and last updated

Police say a Phoenix man stood on his truck's running board as it was being stolen, then captured the suspect himself. 

Phoenix Police report that on January 18 at about 1 a.m. a man, later identified as 31-year-old Theodore Golembiewski, took a Ford Excursion from the driveway of a home near 51st Avenue and Greenway Road. 

Police report that Golembiewski found the keys on the center console and started the vehicle, looking to take it around the block and sleep in it. 

The owner, who was working on the truck, heard the vehicle start, came out of the house and jumped onto the Excursion's running boards.

He attempted to pull Golembiewski out of the moving vehicle. However, Golembiewski drove the truck down the street and into a yard before hitting a parked truck, moving it about 50 feet. 

The collision spun the Excursion, but the victim was still able to hang on. When the Excursion stopped, he pulled Golembiewski from the truck and held him until police arrived. 

Golembiewski has been charged with vehicle theft and aggravated assault.