3 bystanders foil a robbery in mall

A neighboring merchant and two teenagers run down a man after a $47,500 ring was snatched.

By BRIAN WHITE
Published June 10, 2005

TAMPA - For most people, the $47,500 diamond ring at Mayors Jewelry in International Plaza is out of reach. It was for Cord Holland, so he just took it and ran Wednesday night, Tampa police said.

Three men in the mall gave chase and recovered the ring, but not before Holland, 28, rewarded them with pepper spray.

Ten minutes before the mall's 9 p.m. closing time, Kristopher Giroux saw a man running out of Mayors, being followed by a store employee who yelled, "Stop that man!"

Giroux, 26, owns the Global Cellular kiosk outside the jewelry store.

Without hesitating, he began to chase Holland through the mall.

"I was just doing my civic duty, I guess," Giroux said.

The chase led them past shoppers Ryan North and Dan Church, both 19, who were getting ready to leave the mall. They saw the suspect and Giroux running down the hall and thought it was some kind of prank.

"I thought it was a joke, you know, people do that, joke around in the mall," North said.

But he and Church joined in the action and began chasing Holland.

When Holland darted into one of the service corridors, North stopped running, thinking the joke was over. But then a store employee told him that an expensive yellow-diamond ring had been stolen.

"I threw my keys on the floor and bolted after him," North said.

Giroux was already in the corridor, chasing Holland. Church, who was running behind the other two pursuers, saw Giroux close in and grab Holland's shirt. Holland spun around and used a can of pepper spray on Giroux, Church said.

"It felt like liquid fire burning my skull off," Giroux said. "It was so painful."

At that point, North was almost on top of Giroux and Holland. He said he closed his eyes as he tackled Holland, who had begun spraying him, too.

"It was like John Lynch tackling the guy," Church said, comparing his friend to the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back. North said he put Holland in a headlock after knocking him down.

Church said he also got pepper-sprayed as he helped North restrain Holland by holding onto the man's legs.

"When it first hits you, you can't breathe for a while," Church said. "Then you slowly regain that, but you have a stinging sensation on your skin."

Giroux said he was blinded for half an hour.

The men held Holland down for about 20 minutes until police arrived. Holland was taken into custody and was booked into the Orient Road Jail. He was charged with grand theft and two counts of battery, as well as a violation of parole from a 1999 conviction for resisting arrest, battery of a police officer and carrying a concealed weapon. Holland, who lives in Panama City, served three years in prison, state records show.

None of the three men had chased a suspected thief before, although Giroux said he once confronted a shoplifter, and Church said he once jumped into a pool to rescue his little brother.

"I wouldn't mind doing it again if the opportunity came," North said. "Being able to help somebody who's lost $50,000, that's rewarding."

--Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Brian White can be reached at bwhite@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 10, 2005, 01:10:11]