Indians Stop Thief

[Special_K19]

Sunday, April 27
Indians' Anderson, Sadler chase down youth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO -- Cleveland Indians pitchers Brian Anderson and Carl Sadler turned into crime fighters over the weekend, chasing down a youth who attempted to steal a purse from a woman in a restaurant across from their team's hotel.

The pitchers then took the thief back to the restaurant, returned the purse and held him there until police arrived.

"It was an instinctive thing,'' Anderson said before Sunday's game against Oakland. "They picked the wrong restaurant with a couple of athletes who are on a losing streak.''

The Indians entered Sunday's game having lost five in a row.

Sadler, Anderson and two friends arrived at the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday night, and within 10 minutes noticed a youth grabbing a purse and running out of the restaurant. Anderson and Sadler immediately gave chase.

"My adrenaline was pumping,'' Sadler said. "I couldn't believe how fast we were running. We were running in between cars and oncoming traffic.''

They caught up with the thief within two blocks.

"I saw the guy slip, and he dropped the purse and I grabbed his shirt and pinned him down,'' Sadler said. "It was a weird experience. Once I had him, he know he wasn't going anywhere.''

Then they waited for police.

"We held the guy for about 20 minutes,'' Anderson said. "We had him pinned into a corner so he couldn't run again. About four or five cop cars pull up and took up half the street. I had visions of (Cleveland manager Eric Wedge) coming out and see us surrounded by all these cops. We would have been out of here before morning.''

The pitchers left eight tickets for the police officers for Sunday's game.

"When you see it happen there's no time to think,'' Sadler said. "You just want to try and do something.''

[Calder]

Great story. Who among us hasn't wanted to be involved in one of these hot pursuit chases? Great quotes by Anderson too. This story is something straight out of the movies. Too bad there weren't camera crews on site, that would have been sweet. Classy move to leave tickets for the officers too.

[Nanner]

Cool! :thumbsup:

[Nanner]

OOH!

These guys are on the TodayShow right now!

[Nanner]

Okay. They are very cool. I love this whole thing about "don't mess with guys who are on a losing streak". :laughing

They're the best! :thumbsup: I bet that gal was impressed!!!

:D

[Special_K19]

Brian Anderson actually has an injured hamstring that caused him to miss a start. He's not suppposed to be running on it, but he didn't think of that when he started chasing the thief. Later he told the trainer he "inadvertantly tested" it out and he's ready to start. :clap2:

[PissedPrincess]

Originally posted by Nanner
Okay. They are very cool. I love this whole thing about "don't mess with guys who are on a losing streak". :laughing

:D

Great quote! This is so cool!:clap2: :clap2:

Tribe---->:lust:

[Special_K19]

Police give 2 Indians credit for clutch save
04/28/03
Paul Hoynes
Plain Dealer Reporter


Oakland- Detective Harry Callahan used to own the streets of San Francisco with a .44 Magnum and a bad disposition. Sat urday night, In dians pitchers Brian Anderson and Carl Sadler hit those same streets with a losing streak and a bad dis position and apprehended a purse snatcher.

"The guy picked the wrong place to snatch a purse," said Anderson. "He ran into two left-hand ers on a losing streak."

Sadler, An derson and two acquaintances of Anderson's had just been seated at the Daily Grill restaurant Saturday night across the street from the Indians' team hotel, the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Earlier in the day the Indians had lost to Oakland, their fifth straight defeat.

"One of the guys I was with saw this kid walk into the restaurant, reach behind this lady at the bar and steal her purse," said Anderson. "I turned around and saw the kid running for the door. I just sprinted for the door. It was a combination of adrenaline and wanting to do the right thing."

Anderson saw three males scatter in different directions when he came out of the restaurant. "I was looking for the kid with the purse," said Anderson. "It was pink. When I saw the kid with the purse, I went after him."

Anderson was stunned when Sadler sprinted past him.

"When Carl ran right by me, there were two things I knew I had to do," Anderson said. "No. 1, I had to get the guy with the purse. No. 2, Carl Sadler wasn't going to beat me."

Sadler and Anderson said they pursued the purse snatcher down a main street and onto a side street.

"We were running down the middle of the street, against traffic," Anderson said.

"It was like a movie. We were cutting in between cars. A couple of times I was worried I was going to get hit by a car's side mirrors. That's how close they were coming to us."

Sadler reached the suspect first. "The kid turned and slipped and I grabbed him as he slipped," Sadler said. "Then B.A. grabbed him and the kid knew he was a done deal."

The purse snatcher, with Sadler holding one arm and Anderson the other, was escorted back to the restaurant. Anderson said some bouncers from a nearby bar caught one of the other suspects.

"We held them out in front the restaurant for about 20 minutes until the cops came," said Anderson. "The kid that stole the purse kept his hands up under his sweatshirt. I kept waiting for him to pull out a blade and try to run for it.

"I told the kid, 'Buddy, we've just been watching the NFL draft for the last four hours. All I've been hearing about are big hits, closing speed and 40-yard dash times. So don't try anything.' "

Anderson said four patrol cars from the San Francisco Police Department arrived at the restaurant. Anderson added: "I had visions of [Cleveland manager Eric Wedge] coming out and seeing us surrounded by cops. We would have been out of here before morning."

The officers told the players that the person they caught was 16 and that they had a warrant for his arrest. "They'd been looking for him and were glad we caught him. The cops were good guys. We left them eight tickets for the game today," Anderson said.

When it was over, Sadler told Anderson: "We could have been killed. We were running against city traffic. We could have slipped and got run over. We could have ended our careers. But I've always felt that if you do something good for somebody else, nothing bad is going to happen to you."

Anderson missed his last start because of a strained right hamstring. He said he never felt it during his sprint to catch a thief.

[Nanner]

Ohmigosh. This just gets better and better!!!

:hail: :clap: :clap2:

[rockin500]

coolness. :)