Oak Park, MI – Honored By Police For Catching Thief, Orthodox Man Hopes To Offer Safety Courses To Jewish Community

Oak Park, MI – An Orthodox Oak Park man was honored by police last week Thursday for his efforts in catching a purse snatcher outside a local kosher supermarket and was presented with a citation by the Southfield Police Department for his heroic efforts.

51 year old Aaron Tobin was standing outside One Stop Kosher Food Market in the Detroit suburb of Southfield on March 19th when he saw a man grab the purse of a mother with two small children who was about to start loading groceries into her car. Surveillance video shows the purse snatcher surveying the parking lot just moments before the theft and captured the ensuing events on video.

Tobin, who had just spent part of his morning taking a tactical defense class, said that at first he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

“The lady was screaming ‘Help me, help me!'” Tobin told VIN News. “I didn’t know if she had been stabbed or punched or anything.”

Below, The news report on Mar. 19 2013.

After ascertaining that the woman was unharmed, Tobin jumped into his own vehicle, hoping to catch the thief who had fled across the street. Waiting to make the turn out of the store’s parking lot, Tobin saw the man reversing direction and running towards him. Leaping out of his car, Tobin began to chase the thief, who turned briefly when Tobin yelled out to him to stop.

“That one pause gave me the opportunity to tackle him,” said Tobin.

Tobin restrained the 22 year old man, with the help of bystanders, until police arrived.

“After that I went back into the store to get my hand shmura matza,” recalled Tobin. “There isn’t an endless supply here in Detroit and I wanted to make sure they didn’t run out.”

This incident marks the second purse snatching by the same man in recent weeks at One Stop Kosher.

“A week before this guy and a partner took a purse out of a lady’s shopping cart inside the store,” said Tobin. “The whole thing was caught on the store surveillance video.”

The owner of an auto parts remanufacturing company, Tobin takes security seriously. He has a concealed permit license (CPL), carries a gun, and is certified by the National Rifle Association as a CPL instructor. Especially in light of recent events, Tobin hopes to being a series of safety classes within the community on topics including safety in and outside the home and how to avoid becoming a victim.

“People need to heighten their awareness and always be on the alert,” said Tobin. “We need to teach people how not to be a target. You can’t leave your purse in the shopping cart. You need to park in lighted areas. You need to keep an eye out for bad guys, to know when you should have someone walk with you to your car. If you go away on vacation, you need to leave your lights on timers, to have an alarm. Once thieves realize that you are aware, they move on to the next target.”

Especially in light of the Newtown tragedy, Tobin feels strongly that teachers and rabbeim should be trained in the use of firearms and be allowed to carry properly licensed concealed weapons in schools.

“There were a few rabbeim in the yeshivos here who had licenses and carried concealed weapons in school,” said Tobin. “After Newtown they had a big meeting with the police department and they decided that teachers should not be allowed to carry guns in school and should be replaced by unarmed guards. What are they going to do in the case of a tragedy? Run and call 911? Teachers are the first responders and they need to be properly trained to defend our students.”