LONDON — It was like a scene straight out of an action movie.

A man in the busy shopping district of Manchester, England, chased down a theft suspect and tackled him with a flying leap on Wednesday.

He did what many people might dream of doing in that situation, but probably never would, even if they did happen to find themselves in it. The would-be linebacker, who was not named by the police, drew praise in the local news media for what some described as a heroic intervention.

Allan Bentley, a staff photographer of Cavendish Press, a British photo agency, happened to be standing nearby and captured the dramatic moment, which soon appeared on the websites of major publications in Britain.

It began when an unidentified woman withdrew 170 pounds, about $225, from an A.T.M. near a grocery store and had it snatched out of her hand, the news reports said.