KENT, Wash. — A victim and his friends tackled an alleged thief at the Wilson Playfields Tuesday evening, after they said the man broke into the victim’s car the day before.
Marwan Alshalal told KIRO 7 that his friends play soccer at that location frequently. On Monday, he said his car was broken into. Someone stole his girlfriend’s purse, which had her phone and passport inside.
“Realize there’s no purse, no phone; so we open the car, look for it, and we just see his phone there,” said Alshalal.
A man called that phone on Tuesday, asking Alshalal to return it to him.
“‘If I give you the stuff, can you give me the phone?’ I was like, 'uh, ok,'” he said.
Alshalal said at first, the man asked for $500. He later backed down, simply asking that Alshalal not call the police.
Alshalal said they arranged to meet back at the Wilson Playfields, and he agreed not to call police. A man then showed up, holding Alshalal’s girlfriend’s purse.
He said he ran at the man, taking him down from behind, the way he’d been taught when he worked as a security guard.
His friend, Muntadher Kanawi, jumped in to help when the man tried to open a switch blade with his free hand.
When asked if he was nervous during this confrontation, Alshalal said, “No, because I’ve been through a lot of stuff. You know, because we’ve been in a lot of wars in my country, a lot of things bigger than that.”
Kanawi said many people gathered around, thinking the men were fighting. He explained the situation to them and asked them to call 911.
Alshalal said police asked detailed questions about his girlfriend’s name, address, birthday and phone number before giving her belongings back to him.
King County Air Support said its helicopter was sent to assist Kent police in this incident.
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Cox Media Group
