Good Samaritan rescues teen from mugging

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Quick thinking by a good Samaritan helped deputies catch an attempted robbery suspect. He actually helped them chase the man down.

A story like this might make you ask yourself, "What would I do if I saw a robbery taking place?" Well, if you're anything like one Atascocita man, you'll do whatever it takes to make sure the suspect is busted.

His SUV still packed from a camping trip, James Driggers headed out for lunch Friday afternoon. But two blocks away from his home, he noticed a teenager on the sidewalk near Timber Forest near FM 1960 in trouble.

"Then one of the kids started waving his arms and that's when it was very obvious that something was not right," Driggers said.

He pulled up, interrupting a robbery on the sidewalk. The suspects sped off, but Driggers wasn't about to let it go.

"Get in the car. We'll go catch them," Driggers recalled telling the teen victim.

So he and the teen gave chase, snapped photos of the suspects vehicle and called police.

"I turned on my hazards, we had 911 on the phone and they transferred me to the local dispatch," Driggers said.

And when the suspects pulled onto Highway 59, the chase really picked up.

"I got up to 95 with a kayak on the roof and they where pulling away pretty quickly," Driggers said.

But when the silver getaway car exited the freeway and pulled into a neighborhood, police were finally on their trail.

Driggers snapped more shots of the scene.

"Police pulled in behind me and there was probably like nine cop cars there," he said.

The teens were ordered out, and 21-year-old deal Rodney Ebanks was arrested and charged with attempted robbery for allegedly trying to rob the teen of his wallet and cell phone.

"It was great. I gave the guy a high five, and said, 'You did it! We got 'em!'" Driggers said.

The teen's father says he admires and appreciates what Driggers did and says we need more people like him. The father also said he appreciated how quickly police responded.

ABC13 worked with Houston Community Newspapers partner The Atascocita Observer.

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atascocita, local, erik barajas

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