An Army veteran waiting for his morning coffee at a Florida Starbucks came to the aid of a pregnant woman who was getting carjacked, police said.
Shane Spicer was on line in the drive-thru as a high-speed chase between police and a suspect who allegedly broke into a home and stole a vehicle ended with a crash at an intersection near the Starbucks.
Officers are heard on dashcam video saying the suspect, Michael Prouty, fled the scene and ran towards Starbucks, where he approached the vehicle ahead of Spicer in the drive-thru.
"Sprinting up to Starbucks, and he didn’t look like a Starbucks coffee drinker," Spicer told FOX 35 Orlando. "Then he yanked the girl out of the car. And just kind of an instinctive, kind of reactionary thing."
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Dashcam video showed Spicer exiting his car and running up to open the passenger-side door of the carjacked vehicle to stop the suspect. Prouty then attempted to run behind the Starbucks, but Spicer chased after him as police followed. Body cam footage showed Spicer holding onto Prouty until officers were in position to make the arrest.
"I feel like if you’ve got the ability to watch out for someone, that you should," Spicer told FOX. "I would just hope that someone would do the same for my family."
Prouty, who was released from prison in February, has 13 felony convictions on a criminal record dating back to 2000, according to a Sumter County Sherriff's Office press release. The 39-year-old allegedly forced his way into a home in The Villages, a retirement community south of Ocala. After a brief struggle with a victim in the house, Prouty allegedly stole a purse and cell phone before stealing a Cadillac that had been parked in the garage.
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The vehicle was later spotted by the Ocala Police Department, leading to the pursuit, crash and attempted carjacking. Prouty was arrested on charges related to fleeing and eluding, attempted carjacking, crash involving injuries and resisting arrest.
He will be charged in Sumter County with home invasion, battery on a person over 65 and grand theft of a vehicle.
