Heroic crime fighter. (Exercising the Right).Douglas Click is co-owner of Arizona Hi-Lift, a construction equipment firm in Phoenix. He is also the son of a former Phoenix assistant police chief. On March 21, 2002, a man stole a 13-ton dump truck and, during a 45-minute police chase, smashed through a fence, ran multiple red lights, and sideswiped sundry sun·dry adj. Various; miscellaneous: a purse containing keys, wallet, and sundry items. [Middle English sundri, from Old English syndrig, separate. vehicles. The pursuit ended when the stolen truck slammed into a vehicle occupied by five persons, none of whom were seriously injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. . The truck driver fled, but made the mistake of running near Douglas Click's home. Click saw the man and, armed with an aluminum baseball bat, chased and caught him. When the suspect refused to submit and began fighting, Click, a former cage fighter, pummeled him into submission with the bat and held him until police arrived. News accounts of the incident transformed Click into a local celebrity, and television stations around the country ran footage of the dump truck chase and Click's confrontation with suspect Kenneth Ray Thomas
Ray Thomas . But no one could have known then that Click's career as a heroic crime fighter had only just begun. On May 18th of this year, thieves smashed through the front door of Click's business and stole some computer equipment. Since the heavily damaged door could not be repaired immediately, Click opted to sleep in the building at night to guard against further thefts. Shortly after midnight on May 20th, while upstairs in his office watching surveillance cameras, Click noticed two men hop a fence and begin moving toward the building. When they entered through the broken door, Click grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and started down the stairs Adv. 1. down the stairs - on a floor below; "the tenants live downstairs" downstairs, on a lower floor, below . In the dark, one of the intruders, wielding wield tr.v. wield·ed, wield·ing, wields 1. To handle (a weapon or tool, for example) with skill and ease. 2. To exercise (authority or influence, for example) effectively. See Synonyms at handle. a steel pry bar, jumped him. Click was able to fire two blasts, at least one of which found its mark. Mortally wounded, the would-be robber (whom early news accounts did not identify) died at the scene. His accomplice accomplice: see accessory. ran, jumped the fence, and escaped. Click suffered a few welts and bruises Bruises Definition Bruises, or ecchymoses, are a discoloration and tenderness of the skin or mucous membranes due to the leakage of blood from an injured blood vessel into the tissues. Pupura refers to bruising as the result of a disease condition. , but was otherwise unharmed. The May 21st Arizona Republic quoted Phoenix police spokesman Detective Tony Morales as saying that no charges were expected to be filed against him because "he was inside the business, he was in fear of his life and he was being attacked by the two suspects in the darkness." |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion