A 24-year-old Greeley man who went to pick up dinner Wednesday night ended up stopping a suspected robber at gunpoint, tackling him and holding the suspect in a chokehold until police arrived.

The incident began just after 6 p.m. when a man, who was later identified as Ronald Lee Gonzales, 24, of Windsor, entered the west wing of Frasier Hall on the University of Northern Colorado campus and held up a UNC custodian, brandishing a gun – later determined to be a replica pistol – demanding his wallet and watch, UNC spokesman Nate Haas said.

Haas said the man then made off with those items, heading north. The custodian gave chase, with the help of Greeley resident, Kaleb Caddy.

“It happened quick, very quickly,” said Caddy, a superintendent with Hartford Homes, on Thursday as he explained the unusual story.

On his way home from a Colorado Rockies game, Caddy called in a takeout order to a Greeley restaurant near UNC. He paid for and picked up the food for himself and his sister and walked back to his car. Everything seemed normal until he saw a guy with a wallet in his hands trying to run past the restaurant.

“He couldn’t run though; his pants were sagging too far,” Caddy said.

Seconds later, Caddy saw an older man walk up, out of breath, with a phone in his hand asking for help. The victim said the man who had just come past had robbed him. The victim also told Caddy the suspect had a gun.

Caddy said he can’t stand it when people steal. He said he didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his Smith & Wesson handgun from his car’s trunk and took off after the robber. At some point during the foot chase, and before Caddy caught him, Gonzales threw away his gun, which officers found later. Eventually, the suspected robber jumped a fence and found himself at Caddy’s gunpoint.

“I told him to freeze. I pointed my firearm at him. I told him to drop the wallet and wait for the police,” Caddy said.

Gonzales dropped the wallet; Caddy put the gun away and tackled him into the bushes when he tried to leave, Caddy said. Gonzales fought back, but Caddy – a former high school wrestler – got him a chokehold and kept him there until police arrived and arrested the man.

He doesn’t remember being scared, Caddy said. It all happened so fast.

Gonzales had only been out of jail for a week. He had arrested for felony menacing on May 28, and he bonded out of Weld County Jail on June 22. He was due to appear July 15 in Weld District Court for that case.

Haas said UNC police and Greeley police are working together to investigate the Wednesday robbery. He said the police report on the incident hadn’t been released, pending the approval of a police supervisor.