Shola Lee
An elderly woman is being praised after stepping in to stop a shoplifter at a supermarket in Canada.
The video shows the moment a man in a balaclava tries to leave the store with a trolley full of items, though the woman who witnessed the moment clearly had other ideas, ripping off his balaclava in her efforts to expose him.
Footage of the incident was recorded by Darrell Johansen, who later shared it to Facebook. The post was then shared to Twitter, where it currently has 1.1 million views.
You can watch it here:
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Johansen captioned the post saying, 'There's nothing preventing private citizens from jumping in but it's probably not recommended given the unfortunate incident that happened at our Walmart here a few months ago with that security guard getting stabbed. But I've just had it with this ****.'
He then added, 'I spotted this guy within five seconds of entering the store and knew he was about to run, and this is the result.'
The video shows a man in a ski mask attempt to steal a trolley of goods from Walmart in Campbell River, before he is intercepted by the elderly lady, Newsweek reports.
The video begins with Johansen following the man as he drags the trolley, and what is presumably his own bike, towards the exit of the store.
Johansen then questions him repeatedly, saying, 'Are you gonna pay for that?'
As the masked man attempts to leave, the lady blocks him with her own trolley, saying 'excuse me'.
The woman then proceeds to call the man an 'a**hole' while slamming her trolley into his and ripping his mask off. The man quickly abandons the stolen goods and leaves with the bike.
The lady shouts after him, 'You jack up the price for everybody else, cause of you a**holes'.
Johansen said of the woman: 'Whoever this lady is that ripped his mask off, I’ll take you as my partner in crime-fighting anytime.'
People on Twitter agreed, with many heralding the elderly woman's actions, saying 'not all heroes wear a cape', while another added, 'Love this lady!!! Tough as nails.'
However, some asked where the authorities were: 'Why hadn’t he gotten arrested or something? Not even a mall cop?'
But, as Johansen's caption went on to explain, he had contacted the 'emergency RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] line and reported the incident but I was told that unless Walmart calls to file a claim that nothing would be done'.
Despite being celebrated, Maury Tyre who works for the RCMP said of the lady's intervention, 'It's not something that we can really recommend doing, because there have been some incidents that have definitely escalated to severe violence in the community.'
He added, 'Some of the individuals that are stealing and taking things, taking carts full, commonly carry knives or bear spray, and when people take matters into their own hands, they have to understand that there is an inherent risk and even sometimes liability when they do so.'
The woman in the video has not yet been identified.
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