A High School Football Player Tackled a Shoplifter

Michelle | March 31, 2016 |

We hear a lot about how dangerous football is for kids.  But would you get instincts like this from playing baseball?  A 32-year-old shoplifter tried to steal about $800 worth of items from a Target outside Seattle on Tuesday.  He had a big-screen TV and a bunch of other stuff in his cart, and just tried to walk out with it.

 

Then two cops who happened to be there started chasing him.  So he ran outside and tried to lose them by running into an Old Navy next door.

 

But that’s when a 14-year-old high school football player named Kevin Merz saw what was happening, ran in out of nowhere, and TACKLED the guy.

 

Kevin’s about 6-foot-1, and the shoplifter was only five-six or five-seven.  So he says it wasn’t that hard to bring him down.  But there’s surveillance footage of it, and it looks like his technique was pretty solid.  (Here’s the video.)

 

 

He charged at him, wrapped him up with both arms, and drove him into the ground.  Then the two cops took over and put him in handcuffs. 

 

The local police say they’re nominating Kevin for an award for helping them out.  But he says he was just trying to be a good citizen.

 

(Check out a photo of Kevin in his football gear here.)

 

 

(KIRO7)