Robberies, even small-time petty thieveries, are usually something we hear about in the news, rather than actually witness in person. Most of the time, this is because any thief with a little common sense knows to do it in the dark of night, or in an area without any witnesses. However, one man clearly didn't get the memo and recently attempted a robbery in the middle of a highway in broad daylight.
Footage of the incident, which occurred in Alexandra, South Africa on Monday, was captured by Anton Damhuis and uploaded to YouTube the same day.
Since then, the video has reached over 200,000 views and has quickly spread through Reddit - all because of the actions Anton took to ensure the thief didn't get away with it. "I was on my way home and saw this smash and grab," Anton wrote in the YouTube caption. "Decided to intervene".
You can see the whole incident in the video below:
"Well done, man! I'm sure the victim was in shock, so being grateful was not high on his list of priorities!" said one user, referring to the lack of "thank you" from the motorist after Anton had helped him out.
However, another user, Phillip Coetser, claimed to be the man in the car and expressed his gratitude in the comments section. "My friend, I was the man in the car and I want to really thank you for intervening," they wrote. "Sorry I did not thank you yesterday, but I was in a bit of a shock."
Speaking to News24 on Tuesday, Anton said he "would do it again if I was put in the situation":
"At first I thought the man was trying to get a lift with a car in front of me. I decided to intervene by pinning the man down with my motorbike. I just think it's wrong that people get away with this type of stuff."
While it's ridiculous that the culprit tried to pull this off at all in full view of so many people, it's even more remarkable that Anton went out of his way to stop the robbery from taking place.
