Berkeley coffee shop patrons tackle would-be laptop thief

Patrons at Romeo's Coffee helped to stop a laptop theft in Berkeley. Patrons at Romeo's Coffee helped to stop a laptop theft in Berkeley. Photo: Ed U. / Yelp Photo: Ed U. / Yelp Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Berkeley coffee shop patrons tackle would-be laptop thief 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An attempted laptop theft at Romeo's Coffee in Berkeley was thwarted Thursday when patrons tackled a would-be thief who grabbed a laptop.

In a security video, a man in a blue shirt is working at the end of a table on his laptop when another person, in a red hoodie, snatches his laptop and takes off for the door. The victim dives out of his chair sideways and catches the alleged thief by the waist, knocking him off balance.

Another man, sitting at a different table, notices what's happening and gets up to help pin the hooded man down before a café worker runs over.

Security footage at the coffee house captured the incident:

The person tackled was one of two laptop thieves who entered the café together at about noon, according to KTVU. Just seconds before the above footage, another man had grabbed the first laptop and ran out of the cafe, with the laptop owner trailing behind. That's when patrons sprung into action as the second theft was attempted.

Both laptops were recovered and police arrested one of the suspected thieves, who was identified as a 15-year-old, the news outlet reported.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

