THIS MAN'S A NATURAL IN THE ROLE OF INTERESTED CITIZEN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993                   TAG: 9303050029
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
THIS MAN'S A NATURAL IN THE ROLE OF INTERESTED CITIZEN
Something about the two guys standing beside the red pickup truck didn't look kosher to Mark Lee. But he was just a guy picking up his girlfriend from work at Tanglewood Mall, so he didn't pay too much attention to the scene in the parking lot.
But when Lee saw a third man running toward the pair, and saw them bolt across the lot, Lee knew something was wrong.
"I call them my freaky moments," he said. "Somehow, these things happen to me."
Lee joined the chase in his car. He drove after the men, toward the far corner of the mall's lot at Electric Road and U.S. 220.
Easygoing and articulate, Lee, 32, didn't quite know what to say when he caught up to them. The third man, in pursuit, was ordering the pair to halt. He was a Roanoke County police officer.
"I asked them why they didn't stop," said Lee. "You're not going anywhere out here."
The men told Lee they'd done nothing.
"So I told them they shouldn't have any problem talking to the police," he said.
It was a cool-headed response in an illogical moment.
John Hoover, the cop, arrived on foot. He tackled one of the men and the second started to flee. Then, seeing his friend grappling on the ground, he started back, perhaps to help.
Hoover was off-duty, in plain clothes, moonlighting as a security guard at the mall. He was chasing them because Brendle's manager had accused them of trying to pull a scam.
"They were really hoofing," said Hoover, "and didn't know I was a police officer."
"When Mr. Lee yelled at them, they stopped," said Hoover.
The cop collared one of the suspects.
"He put up a little fight, and that's when the second one started coming back. At that point, I didn't know if Mr. Lee was with them or what. I didn't know who he was."
Lee shouted to Hoover, asking if he needed help.
"Yeah, grab that guy!" Hoover responded, pointing toward the second suspect. "I thought he was coming back to put a whupping on me."
Mark Lee was a linebacker at Bluefield State College when he was a younger man, and he's bulked up since then. As he's looked for work in past months, he's devoted less time to weight lifting. Still, if you had to pick a person with whom to go mano a mano, Lee would not be among the top choices.
"I didn't know what to say," said Lee. "So I told him this was a citizen's arrest."
Lee put the drop on him and stayed on top until a second pair of handcuffs was brought by reinforcements. It wasn't much of a contest, though Lee did break his eyeglasses. They were replaced by Brendle's.
"I questioned myself later," said Lee. "It's just a spontaneous moment and you react. But you don't know what these guys are carrying these days."
Timothy Ferguson could be carrying a sentence on a charge of defrauding Brendle's. Anthony Young could be carrying some punishment on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and impeding a police officer.
They're to be tried in Roanoke County General District Court.
"I was really impressed by Mr. Lee. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't been there," said Hoover.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB