'Catch' of the day Brave pair chases down Bronx 'thief'

Bronx auto-store clerk Nelson Lozanda made the call of duty yesterday, chasing and tackling a suspected shoplifter, then holding him down with one hand while phoning cops with the other. "There are a lot of thieves coming in here. They are thinking just because it's not our store, we are not going to respond to it," said Lozada, 23, one of two workers who grabbed the alleged perp about a block from an AutoZone store on East 149th Street.

The drama started in the store at about noon when a man set off alarms because he had allegedly stashed an electric drill and an Allen wrench set, worth a total of about $80, in his bag.

Cops arrived about 10 minutes too late. They said they were searching for the suspect.

But shortly after the mayhem, The Post found the suspect shuffling along East 138th Street.

Only proprietors should think about chasing the thief. The risk of injury or death is not worth it for the honorable employee.<<

Thieves steal lives moments at a time. Every theft takes time to recover from. Someone steals a car, the owner has to pay the deductible, or the whole ride if they only have liability. The car thief can steal months of wages and trash the car leaving the owner with the bag.

The store was having multiple thefts from the owner EVERY DAY. When thieves can be blatant about the thefts and there is no cost to them making the attempt...good luck with having civilization. The cost to the store was in the vicinity of $200 or more a day. That’s thousands of dollars a month. I can see a good, moral kid get outraged, and want to act.

I am more puzzled by the people that don’t want someone to act as that will clearly make the bad behavior more common and insidious. The thief or robber is the one in the wrong, by law and spirit, and that is something we should not lose sight of.

"They didn't have any right to do that to me," the man said, pointing to a black left eye and bloody scab on the back of his head. "I'm homeless. I'm not going to steal from other homeless people. Better to steal from the store."

I think they were right to stop the thief. Crime is both evil and destructive. All customers pay for it, since it raises prices on us. All employees pay for it since it reduces the profits available to pay them. All citizens should stop criminals. I would not operate a store in that area, but the locals who sided with the criminal get what they deserve when they shop and find that prices in their small neighborhood stores are much higher than what I pay in my low-crime area, although I feel sorry for any honest locals who also pay for their sleazy neighbors' lack of integrity.

Cops arrived about 10 minutes too late. They said they were searching for the suspect.

When seconds count, police are only minutes away.

I am really surprised that stores in high crime areas don't keep everything behind the counter or in locked storage cages. Customers could only handle one item at a time under close supervision. Even have a locking gate on the front door so they can't just grab something and run. I suppose the place would still be susceptible to outright armed robbery, but it would cut shoplifting to a minimum.

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