After waiting all day for the suspect's court hearing, the restaurant owner and victim were told that the suspect had been “lost” in the vast Los Angeles jail system. Both men spoke to Inside Edition about the harrowing ordeal.
After a man was seen attacking a diner outside a Los Angeles restaurant, the owner of the restaurant next door tackled the suspect to the ground and held him down until police arrived.
Surveillance video shows the suspect sucker punch and rob the diner, Richard Schlesinger, at a Hollywood pizzeria.
Timothy Ratcliff, the owner next door, ran after the assailant and pulled him to the ground, with the struggle spilling out onto busy Hollywood Boulevard. Ratcliff’s girlfriend came out to help, as she and another woman retrieved the stolen items.
The thief was still trying to break free, so Ratcliff's girlfriend stood on his legs and kicked him.
“Honestly, it was like slow motion. I couldn’t believe it happened right away,” Ratcliff said.
Ratcliff said he’s been helping out the suspect for months.
“He's been coming around the restaurant for about two months now. We've been giving him food, we've been giving him water. It’s just shocking to have it all happen the way it did,” Ratcliff said.
The suspect was scheduled to face charges inside a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday.
But after waiting all day for the court hearing, Ratcliff and Schlesinger say they were told that the suspect had been “lost” in the vast Los Angeles jail system.
“It seems like the county or the city lost track of the guy, so it’s not a good look for law enforcement if they’re going to lose track of somebody who’s in their system,” Schlesinger said.
Despite the frustrating chain of events, Ratcliff and Schlesinger were able to meet and now share an unbreakable bond.
