Teen thieves caught after neighbour’s swift action (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Teen thieves caught after neighbour’s swift action

12:14pm Monday 23rd August 2010 in

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AN Eastleigh man has been hailed a hero after his quickthinking and swift response led to a gang of young burglars being arrested.

Steve Jordan, 43, had just got home for his lunch break when he saw the teenagers carrying a TV, a laptop and a CD player that they had stolen from his neighbour’s home.

Without a thought for his own safety, he chased the thieves almost 100 yards in his car into a back alley, swerving to trap one of the group, whom he restrained with the assistance of another member of the public.

He then called the police and helped them track down the other members of the gang.

Home-owner, Ian Anderson, 67, who teaches English language skills at the University of Southampton, was out at the time.

When he learned of the events at his Southampton Road address and his neighbour’s dramatic intervention, he called Steve “a hero”.

“I’m so grateful to him. You hear all the time about people who don’t want to get involved for fear of getting hurt and hurting someone else and getting into trouble so it’s nice to know there are good people out there willing to do brave things when necessary,” he said.

The young burglars had smashed their way into his home through a window in the back door, ransacking the living room and snatching expensive electrical items worth almost £1,000, rifling through his personal papers and draws.

Ian’s belongings have all been recovered except the TV, which is thought to have been dumped as the thieves fled.

Steve, a father of one, said: “I saw the teenagers and knew they didn’t live there and it was just instinct to stop them .”

Police arrested five boys, aged between 14 and 16, and a 19-year-old, all from Eastleigh, on suspicion of burglary.

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