Judoka Roy Meyer arrested a shoplifter in the center of Rotterdam last Sunday. The sportsman, who lives in Breda but trains in Rotterdam, was in his car with his family when he saw a security guard of a store go after two thieves.
“We were waiting in front of the pedestrian crossing and it happened five meters from my car,” says Meyer RTV Rijnmond. “I asked my girlfriend if I should help and she said: ‘Go after it’. I ran after him on socks on the tramway, it probably didn’t look good.”
Foot wipe
But socks or not, after a hundred meters Meyer caught the thief, who he said had stolen chocolate: “I grabbed him by the collar with one hand and swept him under with my foot. He lay neatly when I told him not to let me run again.”
A second thief was caught in time by a security guard. The police took the man who was caught by Meyer from him. “They recorded my statement and thanked me,” says the judoka soberly. “Then we went to dinner.”
On socks
But why did he actually walk in socks? “We were almost late so I threw my shoes in the back seat, I would put them on when we got to the restaurant,” Meyer explains. He wasn’t worried about his feet: “I’m a judoka, so I’m barefoot more often. They have a thick layer of calluses on them.”
It is not the first time that Roy Meyer has caught a shoplifter: “This year I also helped in the Jumbo in Breda. Someone stole beer cans there and threw them at a security guard.” The judoka also intervened there. “I am not afraid of that. It is your responsibility to contribute to a safe society.”