A tradie dad has been hailed a hero after he sprinted from his home in just his SpongeBob SquarePants underwear to crash-tackle an alleged car thief.
Dean Bathurst, 57, held the man down in a citizen’s arrest at his Bindoon home, 70km from Perth, for up to 30 minutes on Tuesday morning.
His 10-year-old daughter allegedly saw the 31-year-old pull wires from Mr Bathurst’s car, causing him to run out of his home wearing only his colourful cartoon boxers.
‘It was probably a good 10-minute wrestle around on the ground, trying to get him in a position where we could stop him from hurting us, or hurting him, or running away,’ the father-of-three told 9News.
‘You know, you got the fight or flight. I’ve got a strong fight… It was like, you’re not taking my car.
‘I might actually go to bed dressed a bit better than my SpongeBob jocks from now on.
‘Good thing I wasn’t wearing my Superman jocks, because that could have been a completely different situation.’
Mr Bathurst’s two sons, Grayson and Brooklyn, helped keep the alleged thief in place.
Mr Bathurst was helped by his two sons Grayson and Brooklyn during the incident
Dean Bathurst (pictured, left) held a man on the ground in a citizen’s arrest for 30 minutes while only wearing SpongeBob underwear
‘I saw the dogs going berserk and then I saw my brother and my Dad and I thought, “Oh, what’s going on here”,’ Grayson said.
‘Then I saw this guy lying down on the ground and so, just natural instinct, rushed in to help.’
Brooklyn added that detaining the man was no easy task.
‘I’m 120 kilos, so he wasn’t moving as I lay across his legs and his lower back, and just tried to hold out,’ he said.
After WA Police arrived, the Bathurst family discovered the 31-year-old man they had detained had allegedly been on a crime spree since 3.30am that morning.
Police allege the Brabham man approached a woman reversing out of her driveway and entered her vehicle while threatening her with what appeared to be a firearm.
He then allegedly indecently assaulted the woman before ordering her to stop the vehicle. The woman fled the car and the man allegedly drove to Bindoon.
Police allege officers found the car crashed on the roadside.
Mr Bathurst (pictured) said he spent 10 minutes wrestling the 31-year-old man to the ground after his daughter allegedly saw him pulling wires out of his car
The 31-year-old (pictured) had allegedly been on a car jacking spree earlier that morning
Two hours after the first incident, police allege a second vehicle and items were stolen from a Bindoon home, with the vehicle found abandoned nearby.
It was after this that police allege the man went to the Bathursts’ property where he was restrained and a flick knife was seized.
The 31-year-old has been charged with 12 serious offences including armed robbery, aggravated home burglary, indecent assault and carrying a prohibited weapon.
He appeared before Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
