A sanitation worker catches a robber

On 2:20 a.m. on Tuesday at an alley in a neighborhood in northern Seoul, a sanitation worker was sitting at a driver`s seat at a 5-ton garbage truck. After loading eight garbage bags on the truck, two other workers threw them into the back of the truck. The person on the driver`s seat then saw a young man coming out from a convenient store and running. Dressed black with a hat on, the young man had gone into the store, threatened the store owner with a knife and stole money. The owner rushed out from the store and yelled, "My store has been robbed. Please someone report to police!" But the young man was already almost out of sight.

The older man in the truck started to drive to chase the robber. The store owner said he had a knife but the older man didn`t care. The two other workers on the back were perplexed because they weren`t aware of the situation. The driver chased the young man for about a kilometer and finally overtook him. He then stopped, got out of the truck and grabbed the robber by his collar. The police arrived and arrested him.

At a phone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo, the older man said, "I did what I had to do. It broke my heart because the robber was a young man." On how prompt he was in chasing, he said, "I work in this neighborhood. It`s no big deal."

According to police on Wednesday, the young man was imprisoned on a charge of the armed robbery. A police source said, "The sanitation worker was brave enough to chase the robber carrying a knife."