Tim Ratcliff is being hailed as a good Samaritan after he jumped into action and stopped an assailant who punched an elderly man and ran off with his wallet in broad daylight.
Ratcliff said he ran after the suspect without thinking and tackled him, detaining him until police arrived.
Ratcliff, owner of a restaurant called Shin in Los Angeles, said on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday that the suspect spent time in the area in recent months and frequently came into his restaurant asking for food and water.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," he told host Carley Shimkus. "It was honestly a shock to see anything like this happening because there's never been any kind of violence before."
He said the man who was attacked is "doing okay" despite having suffered cracked ribs from hitting a curb when he fell. All of his belongings, including his wallet, were returned.
Ratcliff said the suspect apologized and was pleading to be let go while Ratcliff was holding him down.
"I told him, you crossed the line this time, and you've got to wait for the police and deal with this the right way," he said.
Ratcliff said it was shocking to see this type of brazen crime, but he was never scared. He said he believes the suspect was having a bad day and was desperate.
"But it seems like there's been a lot of people in the area that are just here to do no good," he said, noting that Los Angeles has seen many similar instances as crime is on the rise.
Ratcliff spent all day Tuesday in court, expecting to testify against the suspect. But at the end of the day, officials said they had "lost" him.
"I don’t know what that means," Ratcliff said, assuming it meant the suspect would soon be back on the streets.
"As soon as it was said, one of the guys there said, ‘Well, you should probably go back to your restaurant and make sure he's not hanging around there.’"
Ratcliff said he is now waiting for a call to go back to court to testify.
He said something needs to change in the area and explained that district council members recently approved an additional 200 police officers for the area.
"But we still haven't seen any boots on the ground," he said. "So I'm really hoping that sometime really soon that's starting to happen."
