RTÉ presenter Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh tackled a thief to the ground, after he stole a wallet off an Australian tourist.
The redhead said that she had been standing on the corner of Merrion square after a business meeting when she heard “this blood-curdling shout and the words, ‘Stop him! Stop him!'”
The mother-of-two instantly began to pursue the thief, then ran into the middle of the road, and swung her laptop bag at him.
Hero: Blathnaid stopped a thief on the street | VIPIRELAND.COM
She told The Herald, “It was fight or flight. It was instinctive. Before I knew what was happening I was in the middle of the road in front of him.
“Thank God no cars were coming. I looked totally insane – like a complete mad person.”
Blathnaid’s bag was too heavy and she missed the mugger, but more women came on the scene and eventually tackled the thief to the ground.
Blathnaid said, “It was another woman who eventually brought him to the ground. She was also a redhead.”
Thief: Blathnaid and other women stopped a thief on the street | VIPIRELAND.COM
While that woman was struggling with the thief, he pushed her and she hit her head on the road.
Soon, Gardai arrived to question the thief, and an ambulance was called to treat the woman who hit her head.
However, Blathnaid’s heroic day ended on a low-point, “After all that drama, I got back to the car to find out I had been bloody clamped. Can you believe it?” she said.
“So I had to wait and pay the €80 fine. I said to the clamper, ‘I stopped a robber today’ and he just shrugged and said, ‘You can appeal it if you really want’.