BERKELEY (KRON) — Security video from inside a Berkeley coffee shop captures a would-be laptop thief getting tackled to the ground.
The attempt is first stopped by the victim who springs from his seat and wraps his arms around the robber.
Others are then seen jumping in to pin down the crook.
Dino Micheletti is the co-owner of Romeo’s Coffee.
“I was proud of everybody,” Micheletti said. “I’m glad nobody got hurt and I’m glad the outcome was what it was.”
He said this is the first time in two years of business someone tried stealing a laptop at the Telegraph Avenue shop.
“We don’t think that can happen again and we just saw it can happen,” he said.
Employees said the duo walked into the shop around noon Thursday.
They asked for water, sat for a few minutes and then launched their theft attempt.
One of the suspects wearing a gray hoodie is seen quickly swiping a laptop before bolting out of the front door.
The second thief immediately follows but is grabbed at the waist and dragged down.
An employee then runs to the dog pile.
Both laptops were able to be recovered and a 15-year-old would-be thief was arrested by police.
Micheletti said this thwarted theft should be a lesson to others who might be looking for trouble at Romeo’s.
“That was a big mistake for those guys to make,” he said. “And I have to say it’s immaturity or they aren’t from the neighborhood because if they had been from the neighborhood, they would’ve known that Romeo’s isn’t a place you want to try that.”