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SOUTH JORDAN — An observant 9-year-old boy helped stop an alleged thief from stealing his dad's expensive bicycles Saturday, and helped police catch the man in the process.
"Nicolas really is the hero in this. Where he was really brave and he was on his go-cart going super fast chasing the guy, and was just really willing to get in there and try to catch him and wanted to get the guy stopped. I'm grateful that he gave a really good description and was able to tell us what was going on so we could help also," said Kathy Collings, who also played a role in stopping the alleged thief.
On Saturday, Travis Ferran was working in his yard, near 11300 South and Jordan Parkway, just before 11 a.m. when a man walked into his open garage, took two bicycles with an estimated total value of between $9,000 and $11,000 off the wall and rode off on one while holding the other, he said.
"How could this be happening? I'm working right here in my yard, 50 feet away. And this guy walked into my garage, walked right past us, walked in my garage and had the nerve to take two bikes right out of my garage," Ferran said.
The alleged bike thief may have made a clean getaway, if not for Ferran's son, Nicolas Ferran, who saw the man leaving with the bicycles.
"He just said, 'Hey dad, is someone borrowing your bikes today?' I said, 'No pal, why?' He goes, 'Well there's a guy who's taking off with your bikes right now,'" Travis Ferran said.
Ferran ran over to the parkway, where he could see the man riding away.
"I just said, 'Hey, get off my bikes.'"
Nicolas really is the hero in this. Where he was really brave and he was on his go-cart going super fast chasing the guy, and was just really willing to get in there and try to catch him and wanted to get the guy stopped.
–Kathy Collings
The man dropped one of the bikes and continued riding off on the other, he said. The expensive bicycles are used by Ferran for Iron Man competitions.
As Ferran chased after the man while dialing 911, his son got on his go-cart and also joined the pursuit. That's when Nicolas ran into Collings and told her what was happening. She and her husband got in their car and joined in looking for the suspect.
On the Jordan Parkway, several people who heard Travis Ferran yelling also started pursuing the suspect, including an off-duty police officer on a bicycle, Ferran said. When the officer caught up to the man, the suspect jumped off the bike and continued to run, he said.
As Collings continued to search, she saw a suspicious looking man.
"As he was walking along, he kept turning around and looking behind him, I felt, to see if someone was following him," she said.
Collings watched as the man hid behind a tree and took off his hat and shirt in an apparent attempt to change his appearance. When the man began walking again with his shirt waded up in his hand, she contacted police to give officers his location. A South Jordan police officer spotted the man a short time later and arrested him.
A heated Ferran arrived at the scene a few moments later.
"He just said, 'Hey man, someone told me to steal them.' And I was like, 'Just be quiet.'"
Ferran, who has had his vehicle and business burglarized in the past, said he later went back and watch footage from the surveillance cameras set up around the outside of his house.
"He walks right into my garage, grabs both bikes and takes off," he said. "I've been a victim of theft for many years, so I was sure glad to catch a thief."
Nicolas said he too was glad the man was in custody.
"So he couldn't come back to our house and steal anymore stuff," he said.
Larry Ramon Soto-Johnson, 20, was arrested for investigation of burglary.
Soto-Johnson was charged with trespassing, a class B misdemeanor, on Aug. 28. He was convicted of drug possession and attempted unlawful purchase of a dangerous weapon in January, both charges amended from felonies to misdemeanors. In 2013, Soto-Johnson was convicted of misdemeanor joyriding. In that case, he violated the terms of his probation and was placed on 24 more months probation in July and ordered to serve jail time, according to court records.
South Jordan police officer Sam Winkler commended everyone involved in bringing the case to a resolution.
"It's great that we have citizens, including children, keeping an eye out for the community," he said.
He cautioned, however, that if citizens are going to follow suspects, they should do so from a safe distance and not put themselves in potential harm's way. Because there's always the possibility a suspect may be armed, he said personal safety needs to be taken into high consideration.
