Man outwits 2 criminals, escapes in their getaway van

[PeppyGPhiB]

This story was in the Seattle Times today.

Looking back, Patrick Rosario realizes it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do.

Still, as it turned out, the burglars who tried to loot his Bellevue home got a surprise of their own as they began their escape: Rosario had made off with their getaway car.

As he puts it: "The good guys win for once."

As one of the thousands of Washington Mutual employees who were recently laid off, the former technology-program manager happened to be in the basement of his three-story home Tuesday afternoon, building a fiberglass part for his stylized car. His wife, Jamie, was at work; his 2-year-old son, Thomas, at day care.

Around 1:35 p.m., Rosario heard what he thought was a knock at the front door. Then — a loud noise. For a second, he thought it might be the Thursday housekeepers, but then he realized it was Tuesday.

"I thought, there's something going on here."

Rosario, 32, walked up the stairs, peered through a one-inch opening under the door into the main living area, and saw a pair of unfamiliar jeans. Then, a sound he did recognize — the serpentine slap of electric cords against hardwood, as one of his three flat-screen TVs was being hoisted away.

He already was dialing 911 as he hurried back down the stairs in soft, flat-soled Pumas, grabbing a hammer in case he was detected. He ran out the back door toward the front of the house.

The 911 dispatcher was on the phone as Rosario peeked around the corner, hiding behind a garbage can. That's when he noticed the exhaust sputtering out of the white Ford Windstar van parked out front.
Seeing no one, he quickly approached. The keys in the ignition, the humming engine, the unlocked driver's door: It was all too perfect.

Against the 911 dispatcher's advice, Rosario announced he was going to take it. What jury in the world was going to convict him, he thought?
He drove up a steep hill away from the house, figuring whoever was ransacking his home wouldn't be able to keep up on foot. He stopped a few blocks away in front of a friend's house and waited for police.

Full article at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...reakin14m.html