A Tucson city council member has decided to share his side of the story after an incident where he says he stopped someone stealing hundreds of dollars of merchandise.
Councilman Paul Cunningham was stopping by his local Walgreens, where he says he saw a man putting bottles of alcohol in a bag.
Cunningham pulled out his phone and started taking photos of the alleged shoplifter, before he started to act.
“ I felt that I could intervene, so I did, and we tumbled to the floor,” Councilman Cunningham said. “ I stopped him. I didn’t want to be harmed. But then he said ‘please stop,’ and I stopped. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
Cunningham says it was a split-second decision that he attributes to his military background and his 13 years as a probationary officer.
“Incidents can unravel quickly,” Cunningham said. “We just try to do what we think is right at the time.”
The Tucson Police Department responded to the incident on August 8th. TPD acknowledged that the incident occurred and stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
While the incident ended without further violence, Cunningham stresses that the situation could’ve gone very differently, and urges caution.
“We don’t want anyone getting hurt by trying to be the hero,” Cunningham said. “Cooperate with the store, call 9-1-1, and make sure that you’re in a position where if the person has a weapon, you do not put yourself in harm's way.”
