kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and KilleenSoldier Helps Police Apprehend Suspected Thief

A suspected thief got more than he bargained for, when an Army Ranger exercised his good Samaritan rights.

It happened Sunday around 2:30 p.m. at the Wal-Mart in Harker Heights when 1LT Tony Lawrence says he saw a man running from a store with a stolen cell phone.

The incident became an impromptu call to duty for LT Lawrence.

"What kind of man would I be if I saw this going on and then I just did nothing to stop it," he said. 

What he says he says he witnessed was 43-year old Stanley Lovett running out of the Wal-Mart with a stolen cell phone, before assaulting a security guard.

He wrestled Lovett to the ground four times, giving police time to respond.

"We live everyday with the Army values, honor, integrity duty, and when we see a soldier or we see another individual per se that's not living up to those, you're supposed to make a corrective action right then," LT. Lawrence said.

And when Lovett escaped across Highway 190, like a true Army Ranger, LT Lawrence led the way for police.

Locating Lovett inside a nail salon, he alerted them when he slipped out the back into a neighborhood.

"I live 5 minutes from here, somebody like that, that close to my neighborhood, I don't want there period, and I would hope that not only myself, but that anybody who is in the same position as I was would step up," said LT Lawrence.

He says he's no hero,  but Harker Height's Police Chief Mike Gentry disagrees.

"We're very appreciative and hope to make it known to him at one point," he said.

Chief Gentry also said, "He put himself at risk to help somebody else who was trying to do what's right, and that's an extraordinary quality." 

Battle scars and all, LT Lawrence says he has no regrets.

"If I saw something like this happen again, It would be the same thing," he said.

Lovett was arrested on theft, assault and evading arrest charges and taken to the Bell County Jail.

Reporter: Sophia Stamas sstamas@kcentv.com

Photographer: Chris Buford