Crime, with strings attached (so to speak)

Thanks to Bob N. for forwarding this report of a hapless crook caught in the good old-fashioned way.

An attempted bicycle theft in a Walmart parking lot was foiled by a cattle rancher on horseback, who chased the thief down and lassoed him until the local police in southern Oregon could arrive.

. . .

“I seen this fella trying to get up to speed on a bicycle,” Borba told the Medford Mail-Tribune. “I wasn’t going to catch him on foot. I just don’t run very fast.” He added: “I use a rope every day, that’s how I make my living. If it catches cattle pretty good, it catches a bandit pretty good.”

Not a lot is known about Borba because he is new in town, Adams said, but “it appears he will be a good fit. Eagle Point is a small city, and people watch out for each other. That’s exactly what he did.”

David Stepp said that he had been sitting in his car nearby when he saw the cowboy trotting across the parking lot on his horse after the thief, who was trying to escape on the stolen bicycle.

When the thief dismounted and tried to flee on foot, Stepp watched as the cowboy lassoed him by the ankle. The thief then grabbed a tree and held on to it until the police arrived. “Best day of my life,” Stepp said.

“I was laughing too hard to intervene,” he said. “I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life.”

There's more at the link, including a lovely photo of the horse and its rider standing ready to tow the miscreant by the foot if necessary.  Definitely giggle-worthy!

Sounds like a public-spirited gentleman at work.  Good for him!  I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the local jail, to hear the thief's excuses as he tries to explain to his fellow inmates how he got himself lassoed in true Old West style.  "Waal, I was a-tryin' ta rustle this here bike when . . . "




Peter