“She wasn’t moving and some other people (already in the park) were saying it didn’t look good,” he said.

But as the crowd grew , Russo said, he looked toward the wrecked car and noticed a young man on a cellphone walking away from the wreck and moving across the park’s ball field.

“From the quick look I got (of the driver), it looked like him,” Russo said. “I have no idea if he was thrown from the car, or climbed out or what. He was walking away, heading toward River Des Peres,” Russo said.

“I just had a feeling he was going to run away. And I just decided I wasn’t going to let him.”

Sure enough, Russo said, “when he got about 150 feet away, he started to break into a run.”

So Russo first yelled “hey” at the suspect, who stopped and turned to look at Russo. That’s when Russo, standing behind the open door of his truck, drew his deceptive digit and yelled his command.

Surprising even Russo, the stunt took the wind out of the would-be runner’s sails. “He stopped and put his hands in the air and started walking back. Then I told him to get back by his car, and he did that, too,” he said.