Robbery-foiling fairy tickled pink by avalanche of praise
A humble hero wearing a pink fairy costume has been “shocked” at the attention he has received.
There has been an outpouring of praise for the actions of Liam Fontaine, a 23-year-old Napier landscaper, who caught an alleged robber in the act after completing Sunday’s Breast Cancer fun walk with his sister and her two daughters.
About 2pm on Sunday Fontaine’s family headed to Arkwrights dairy in Napier to get icecream for his nieces.
They were leaving the dairy when a “suspicious looking” man wearing a balaclava walked in.
“I had put my pie and my drink into the car when the store owner chased this man out of the shop,” he said.
Fontaine took off after the alleged robber, along with another customer, a 14-year-old boy.
“We both got him on to the ground and pinned him there while my sister was in the dairy . . . calling the police.”
The man put up a bit of a fight, he said, but he and the teenager put him in his place.
“We just told him ‘look . . . the more you fight the worse it’s going to be’.”
He said police took over when he and his helper managed to flag down an off-duty officer.
Senior Sergeant Kevin Stewart wanted to thank the “fairy hero” for saving the day.
“We want to give our pink fairy hero and his acquaintance a big pat on the back for [stopping the offender] getting away,” Stewart said.
Fontaine said he had not expected his actions to receive so much Watch the video at nzherald.co.nz attention. “It’s been pretty full on. My friends think it’s pretty crack-up.”
He said he hoped some of the attention would go to the teen who helped catch the robber.
The 42-year-old man arrested in relation to the incident entered no plea when he appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday charged with aggravated robbery.
He was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody until his next appearance in November. — Hawke’s Bay Today