Neighbour nabs thief after giving chase in flip-flops
A plucky neighbour has told of how he carried out a citizen’s arrest on a burglar after taking chase - in a vest and flip-flops. Carl Gouder was gardening at his home in Brunswick Street, Maidstone when he heard a crash of glass from further down the road.
When he went to investigate he found somebody had smashed the window of a conservatory belonging to his neighbours, who were away on holiday. The 35-year-old fire engineer saw a man heading off down the alleyway and called the police on 101 before returning home.
Shortly afterwards, he and another neighbour saw the same man walking up a side road opposite the property with a bag, at which point they rang the police again.
“We thought it would probably take 15 or 20 minutes so decided to go and get him ourselves,” Mr Gouder said. He and the other neighbour then decided to chase after the thief - Stephen Chambers of Hayle Road, Maidstone.
“He can’t have been the quickest because I caught up with him wearing flip-flops,” said Mr Gouder.
“We just cornered him, got him down and held him there as best we could.
“It was probably only 20 minutes until the police arrived but it felt like forever.
“I’d been gardening, I wasn’t expecting to be chasing a burglar in flip-flops.
“He was struggling and screaming that he didn’t go near the house. I’ve still got a few scars on my hands from it.” Chambers was last week jailed for three years for the burglary, in June. It was his fifth conviction in 12 years. Mr Gouder added: “It’s a really tight-knit community, we look out for each other. “I think if someone burgled our house the other neighbours would be out on the street doing the same thing.”