LIVONIA, Mich. – A quiet neighborhood got louder Tuesday when a burglar tried to take off with a leaf blower that didn't belong to him. It led to a team effort to take him down, and then a police chase.
Kimberly Oaks subdivision in Livonia is usually quiet, but Joe Williams said he isn't leaving his garage open anymore after a thief ripped off his leaf blower.
"(He) came around the corner and he just lifted it right out of the garage and took it right over to his car," Williams said.
It all happened as Williams sat in his garage.
"(He) came in, saw us and still took the blower out to the car," Williams said.
The homeowner didn't just stand by and watch.
"I got up and chased him in the car," William said. "By then he was in the car. I reached in the car, pushed him to the side and grabbed the keys out of the ignition."
Unable to drive off, the thief tried to exchange his keys for Williams' gas blower.
"So he sat the blower down, I turned around and launched his keys down the street," Williams said.
Williams' neighbor saw the commotion.
"I restrained the guy," Dave Hunt said. "I tried to get him in a bear hug and chokehold."
But the thief used the keys to get away.
"He was poking me with the keys because I had him in a headlock down here," Hunt said.
The thief and a woman drove off in a red car. Minutes later, police spotted the car in a parking lot. The woman jumped out and the driver took off, leading police on a chase reaching speeds of 85 mph. The chase went from Farmington to Levan on Five Mile Road before officers ended the chase
Neighbors are worried the man might return.
"They've seen him in the neighborhood before, and a couple of other houses have seen him around before," Williams said.