Officer Gets Lift in Pickup, Catches Fleeing Suspect

Officer John Tucker was losing his foot race with a suspected robber when a “good Samaritan” in a pickup truck stopped to give him a lift.

Tucker hopped in the bed of the truck and was soon able to catch up with and arrest Shere Kahn Orr, said Santa Ana Police Cpl. Dan McDermott.

The incident began about 2:30 p.m., shortly after Tucker got off his motorcycle to write a traffic citation. He noticed a man running out of the Potato Bin market at 1605 W. 1st St. with a clerk chasing after him, police said.

The clerk told Tucker that the man had robbed him at knifepoint, police said.

Orr, 23, of Santa Ana, apparently was pulling away from the officer when the man in a truck offered Tucker a lift.

“The officer jumped into the bed of the truck and he shortly overtook and apprehended the suspect,” McDermott said. “The good Samaritan then left without identifying himself or giving the officer a chance to thank him.”

Police have requested that the driver of the truck notify police so he can be “appropriately recognized,” McDermott said.

Orr was arrested on suspicion of robbery and taken to Orange County Jail.