'Stopped In His Tracks': Quick-Thinking Army Vet Detains Bailout Suspect For Fort Lauderdale Officers

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – With police in tow, surveillance video showed as a Lexus SUV crashed into a curb on Broward Boulevard, steps from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

The doors flew open and people ran in all directions.

That's where Carlos Sandi comes in.

"We saw the vehicle crash right there," he said.

Sandi, who works right at South Florida Jeeps, saw the commotion unfold. He ran to help, but then realized this was a police pursuit.

"We had two people run into the police department parking lot. We had one person run south, down a little side street," he explained. "And one person got out of the back and starting running towards all of our employees and customers on the lot."

Sandi took quick action, pulling out his gun on the suspect.

"As I was running, I began to draw, I was giving verbal commands," he said. "Once he saw I pulled the firearm his hands went right up in the air. He stopped in his tracks."

Sandi got the guy to the ground and had a coworker bring zip ties. They held the suspect for a couple minutes until police got there.  The officers were chasing other suspects.

Sandi told CBS4's Ted Scouten that he's trained for situations like this before.

"I'm an Army vet myself, so we've been trained in custody and control and restraining people," he said.

Turns out one of the guys police chased was charged with grand theft.

Sandi is just glad he could do his part of keep customers and coworkers safe.

"It was as good feeling doing something good.  I don't usually do stuff like that, I just did what had to be done," he said.