Seventeen-year-old Dakota Roice said he was sweeping outside of the Fairwood Safeway store where he works when he witnessed a man taking the Salvation Army donation kettle off of its chain and running away.
"That's when I thought to myself, 'I'm not letting this guy get away. That's when I started running pursuing after him," said Roice.
He said he used a broom to trip the thief.
"Without hesitation I just stuck it out , kind of right between the feet, and the guy just leveled straight on the ground," said Roice.
The bell-ringer ran and tried to stop the thief. He bear hugged the thief, but he still got away.
Roice chased the thief down 140th Avenue Southeast, and then officers saw the suspect and stopped him and arrested him.
"No, I wasn't surprised I was angry," said Ed Ala, a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.
The kettle got loose and witnesses were able to secure it.
"This goes to people who need it," said Ala.
"We've got a great community around the bell ringing effort. When one person decides they need that money it's a real shame, because all someone has to do is ask for help and we'll help them with food," said Major Kris Potter, Salvation Army.
Potter said there was $200.09 in the kettle when the thief attempted to take it.
Roice is a senior at Kentridge High School and just enrolled in the Marines.
"We teach these individuals honor courage commitment and he took that to heart and applied it," said Sgt. Gary Haxton who is a recruiter for the Marines at Kentridge High School.
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