A quick-moving mama managed to thwart an alleged crime while it was taking place in Cathedral Thursday morning.
“Without thinking, I ran after him and chased him down,” said Groovy Mama owner Cara Zimmerman.
Zimmerman had just opened her shop for the day when she noticed the would-be crook walk through the doors.
It wasn’t the first time she had seen the person come into her shop. She says she recognized him as having stolen from her mom and baby store a couple of months before.
That time, though, she says the man didn’t make off with much.
“It was used cloth diapers, which is pieces of fabric that have been pooped on, so I kind of laughed it off and let him go about his business,” said Zimmerman of the products nicked from a donation bin near the front of her store.
The second time around, though, it appears the person was after a little more.
Zimmerman said he walked to the back of the store and grabbed a handful of unique clothing before picking up a high-end baby carrier from a shelf near the front doors. She estimates the merchandise was worth about $600 in total.
“I knew when he came back that he’ll probably just keep coming back so I wanted him to know, don’t keep coming back, don’t mess with me,” Zimmerman laughed.
Zimmerman says she was in hot pursuit as the thief burst out the front doors. She says he ran west but stumbled as he turned onto Athol Street. At that point, she says she was able to grab the man’s phone out of his pocket. She then attempted to negotiate.
“I said you can stop and come back for the phone and give me back my stuff, but he decided to keep running,” she said, adding that he made no attempt to retrieve his cellular device.
“Luckily your phone has a lot of personal information on it, and he didn’t have a password. So, put a password on your phones people.”
Zimmerman says she took the phone to police and was told they were able to identify the man within hours.
Global reached out to the Regina Police Service for details about the incident but didn’t hear back in time for the deadline.
Zimmerman says she doesn’t recommend others chase people down like that but says in the same scenario she would probably do it again.
“It’s not a safe thing. Don’t chase people. But it’s been a hard, hard, hard year and I was just not having it. I was not letting someone else just take advantage of me and I just ran,” she said.