Employee chases down robber

by Pat Ross

On the hottest day of the summer of 2001, a man walks into Churchill’s Lounge, A bar and cigar shop, he looks slightly shady but no one seems to care. He walks over to the cigar section and looks around not saying a word.
“Can I help you?” said Raymond Haley, a 50 year old employee. The man looked out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be a younger man, in his late teens. Then he made a quick gesture towards some cigar cases and turned and ran right out the door. 50 year old Raymond Haley chased after him. He was right behind the criminal, easily keeping up with him because of his good shape.
“Raymond is probably the most in shape grandpa you could ever find,” said his wife Mary Ruiter. Then a quick turn into an alleyway didn’t throw him off a bit, he even started gaining ground.
“I think the kid was amazed that I was always behind him when he kept looking back,” said Ray himself.
“We played on a softball team together he’s the oldest guy on the team, and our fastest runner. So when he told me all this I wasn’t even surprised. It’s just something crazy Ray would do,” said friend Mike Colby. The chase continued further down the alley, after a few more minutes Raymond reached at the robber and took him down to the ground. They wrestled around for a minute but Mr. Haley pinned him down and called for some assistance.
“I knew I would get him the whole time,” said Raymond. Soon after the police showed up and took the man and shook Raymond’s hand.
“They [the police] told me they had it all on tape and I didn’t get what they meant. But I guess there was cameras set up in the alley that taped the whole thing. I went and watched it and though it was pretty cool,” said Haley.
“Ray told me all about it, and was dying to show me the tape after he saw it,” said Mary Ruiter. It turned out the robber tried to get away with more than a thousand dollars in cigars and other merchandize. He was charged with one count of larceny. From 1990 to 2002, 18% of felony convictions in the 75 largest counties were for violent offenses, including 7% for assault and 6% for robbery. (According to the U.S. Department of Justice)
Raymond now is the owner of Quincy Auto Driving School. He has a wife, stepdaughter and step son, and three grandchildren. He lives with his wife in Quincy, Massachusetts.
“The kid just picked the wrong place to rob, because I’m pretty damn fast,” Ray said with a smile and slight chuckle.