A Des Moines man tackled an armed suspect who broke into a disabled woman's apartment on Wednesday.
Adrian Rodriguez's actions "potentially saved a life and kept more people from being hurt," the Des Moines Police Department said.
It all began when officers tried to pull over the suspect's vehicle in Kent. A chase ensued after the driver refused to stop. The chase ended with a crash on South 260th Street and Pacific Highway South in Des Moines.
The intersection is near the Saddlebrook Apartments. Detectives say the suspect, armed with a knife, fled the burning vehicle and ran toward the complex. He allegedly tried to break into several apartments before encountering tenant Elizabeth Morris inside her apartment.
"I looked in the living room and he's standing in the living room, smoking a cigar," she said.
Morris is in a wheelchair and said the suspect was gone by the time she called for her caregiver. He allegedly ran next door to Marites Strong's apartment.
"He was trying to get in my door. I was just like 'oh my God, who is this man and why is he here'?" Strong said.
By the time he walked back to Morris' apartment to break in a second time, her caregiver, Adrian Rodriguez, had returned from giving the dog a bath.
"As he was walking, I just grabbed him and tossed him to the ground. I caught him off-guard because he didn't know what hit him," Rodriguez said.
According to Rodriguez, the suspect kept saying "you're hurting me" but the caregiver kept the man pinned to the ground until officers arrived.
"He had a knife that was opened up so it could have been terrible," Rodriguez said.
KIRO 7 contacted Kent police to learn more about the suspect and why officers were pursuing his car. Kent police did not return calls.
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