Bystander helped foil armored car heist, but at what risk?

The armored car holdup played out in front of scores of shoppers in broad daylight on Sunday afternoon just days before Christmas.

The robbery failed. The suspect was arrested. But the way the incident ended raise delicate questions about how far citizens should go in fighting crime.

A 37-year-old Indianapolis father with a .22-caliber handgun chased down the already-wounded suspect, slammed him to the ground and stuck a gun to his head until police arrived.

"Don't resist or move unless you want your brains splattered all over the pavement," the citizen, whose name is Jeff, told the suspect.

Jeff on Monday recounted his role in thwarting the attempted robbery of the Brinks truck outside a Far Southside Walmart. The Indianapolis Star agreed with a request by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to withhold his full name while officers investigate.

The suspect, Timothy Jackson, 53, of Nashville, Tenn., has been preliminarily charged with three counts of attempted robbery. Police said a Brinks guard shot Jackson after he had just pepper-sprayed and shot the guard with a stun gun in an effort to grab a bag of money. When Jackson staggered away, he was taken down by Jeff.

Jeff told The Star that he not only tackled Jackson but tried to shoot him seconds before. Jeff chased Jackson until he was five to 10 yards behind him. Jeff stopped, raised the .22 and squeezed the trigger.

The gun didn't fire. The safety was on.

"He most likely would have been dead," Jeff said. "But I'm glad no one was hurt."

Law enforcement officials and policing experts said that although Jeff helped apprehend a suspect in a violent crime, he put the public in danger.

"If you pull a weapon in a crowded place you need to be highly trained in how to use it," said Jim White, a former Indiana state police officer who is a senior lecturer at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis' School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "There are just so many things that can wrong. Police and soldiers go through thousands of hours of training for this, and it is still the riskiest thing they will encounter on the job."

Jeff, who owns his own company and lives with his wife and son, said he always carries a gun but has no law enforcement training. He said he had never before intervened with his gun in a crime in progress, though he did chase a shoplifter once.

IMPD Chief Rick Hite said he "appreciates" the willingness of citizens to get involved in crime prevention but said the public is often better off leaving police work to the police.

"If you get involved, do so cautiously, and that means don't put people or yourself in harm's way," Hite said.

Jeff had been shopping with his wife at the Walmart, 7425 U.S. 31 South, for last-minute Christmas gifts for his son and son-in-law and were pushing a cart filled with stocking-stuffers and groceries through the parking lot when a siren sounded behind them.

Jeff ran toward the commotion. He said he saw the guard grasping a bag of money in his left hand, trying to get to his gun. He heard two gunshots and thought the suspect might have shot the guard.

"When I saw the guard, I knew he was in trouble," Jeff said.

Police later said it was Jackson who was shot at least once.

As Jackson ran away, Jeff drew closer to him. He stopped and aimed.

"I had a bead on him," Jeff said.

Jeff chased down the suspect, pulled him to the ground and put his knee on his neck. He turned him on his stomach and pointed the gun at his head.

"I said don't resist," Jeff said. "He said he needed to turn over. I said 'Too bad, that's what happens when you rob a Brinks truck.'"

Minutes later, IMPD officers arrived. They pointed their guns at Jeff and told them to drop his.

"I said, 'OK, OK, I'm the good guy here' and laid down my gun on the pavement," he said.

He said the police handcuffed him and put him in a police car until they figured out what had happened.

White, at IUPUI, said Jeff's actions put the police in a difficult and dangerous situation.

"They don't know what they're dealing with. All they see is a guy point a gun at another person's head," he said. "That was remarkable discipline on the part of IMPD. It could have ended in disaster."

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at 444-2762 and follow on Twitter @john_tuohy.