My Hero

Little did my husband know that right after his parish council meeting last night, he would become a local hero. At about 9pm on June 14th 2007, Tim was walking into the rectory to visit with our pastor when he and Fr. Lutz heard a woman outside crying that her purse had been stolen. Tim immediately ran out the kitchen door to see Mary Groves, also Tim's barber, was crying that her purse had just been snatched. Tim started running in the direction of the thief. As he ran he saw three different eye witnesses who told him the direction the thief had run. The man had gone around the Church, behind the parish center, up the hill and across the train tracks. He thought he had safely evaded himself, and was going through the purse when out of the blue comes my husband yelling threats to the man. The criminal immediately picked up the purse and ran towards the direction of the Scioto River. Evidently there was a steep drop to the river bank where the man jumped into the river, about a 20 foot drop. Tim ran down that steep slope to the river's edge. The man yelled, "I'm sorry man, I'm sorry. I've got 7 kids at home!" Tim responded, "Yeah, well I'm sure that woman needs that money just as bad as you do!" After taking a wad of cash from the purse, the man threw the purse in Tim's direction. My husband took the purse and recovered a few items that were floating in the water, including Mary's checkbook. Tim did not end up going in the river, but knew the vicinity of the man. The cops had been called and were on their way to the river bank. The man evidently could not get across the river and was hiding in some brush along the river's edge. An off duty police officer, who was kayaking in the river, apprehended the man. Tim came out of the whole ordeal with only a few minor scratches on his legs from the brush he had run through. After the police came, Fr. Lutz called me and said, "I just want you to know that your husband is a hero!" He began to tell me the exciting story and that Tim was OK. After filling out a police report and doing an interview with both Channel 10 News and The Columbus Dispatch, my husband finally made it home at about 12:15am. He awoke at 7:30 this morning to go to work and continue being the hero that he's always been to me! To see the news report from Channel 10 News, click here. To also see the report from The Columbus Dispatch, click here.