ARLINGTON, Va. -
A group of Metro riders is getting credit for stopping a thief from making off with a woman's purse and cell phone. The crime happened Tuesday as a Blue Line train pulled into the Arlington Cemetery Station.
"All of a sudden I see this guy running, weaving through the train," Jonathan Jackson says. "She was yelling, ‘He has my cell phone!"'
For a split second, Jackson, who was on his way home to Springfield, considered doing what a lot of people do when they see someone in trouble, just ignore it.
"I was like, ‘So I want to let this disrupt my commute home?' My gut reaction was you need to help, so I started running," Jackson says.
A couple of passengers tackled the suspected teen purse snatcher. Jackson and a few others joined in to help hold the teen for police.
"He had a couple of friends with him that were trying to get him free, but the guys just held him down," says Jackson. "I called 911. That's the best thing I could do at the time."
The teenager's friends eventually gave up and left him, and within minutes police were there to take over.
Jackson doesn't consider his actions all that special, but he does think the collective reaction of those who saw this young woman in trouble were extraordinary.
"All helping to right a wrong. A single focus. Justice was served," Jackson says.
A Metro spokesman says the suspect in this case is 17 years old. He has been charged with robbery.
Officers did detain and question two others who witnesses said were also involved. They were released.
