Florida Army Veteran Helps Take Down Carjacking Suspect In Starbucks Drive-thru

Army veteran Shane Spicer had begun his morning and was patiently awaiting his coffee at a Starbucks in Florida, all the while law enforcement was in pursuit of a repeat offender who had made an ill-fated attempt to steal a car from a pregnant woman.

Authorities had pinpointed the suspect as Michael Prouty, sought for purportedly burglarizing a residence and making off with a vehicle, which led to a collision at a bustling crossroads. Video from a police vehicle’s dashboard camera captures Spicer swiftly exiting the adjacent car and leaping into the pregnant woman’s vehicle, attempting to intervene and halt Prouty.

“I’m gonna get you, buddy. Like, you’re not going anywhere now. Like, you crossed the line.”

Footage from a body-worn camera reveals Spicer physically grasping Prouty, a man with a reported 13 felony convictions dating back to 2000, as law enforcement approaches the scene.

Spicer recounted that his girlfriend and daughter were present in the vehicle as the incident unfolded. Speaking to FOX 35 Orlando, he shared that he managed to emerge from the “instinctive, reactionary” intervention a touch winded, but otherwise unscathed.

Spicer stated, “I feel like if you’ve got the ability to watch out for someone, that you should. I would just hope that someone would do the same for my family.”

Six months pregnant, the woman thanked Spicer for saving her life.

The Ocala Police Department accused Prouty with eluding the law, trying to steal an automobile, injuring someone in an accident, and resisting arrest. In addition, he was accused by Sumter County of grand theft of a car, assault on a citizen over 65, and house invasion.