FREDERIC SERRE
The 1510 West

A quick-thinking Pointe Claire public works employee tag-teamed with police officers to nab a pair of car thieves as they were in the act of stealing a luxury Mercedes SUV recently.

The drama unfolded on Jan. 27 at about 10 a.m. at the corner of St. Jean Boulevard and the Highway 40 service road.

“I followed them in my city truck,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion resident Thomas Schiess, 56, adding that he had a bad feeling when his eyes caught sight of a tow truck with no logo or lettering awkwardly towing the SUV.

“The two guys were wearing orange construction vests, and the tow truck was being followed by a pickup truck and they both went into the back loading dock area of the IGA on St. Jean,” Schiess explained.

The city worker kept on driving, but the situation was gnawing at him.

“So I told the guys, ‘Hang on, I’ve got to go back’ (to the scene),” he said.

“By the time I got back, they were just pulling out of the IGA to go north on St. Jean, then east on the service road, with the Mercedes now being towed by the rear wheels, but the front wheels were turned so the Mercedes had pivoted out and was pretty much on a 45-degree angle as they went down the service road, and that’s when I called 911.”

Schiess says he credits the rapid response by police constables from Station 5, as they immediately chased down the tow truck and the accompanying vehicle and placed two men under arrest as Schiess arrived on the scene. Schiess then drove to Station 5 in Pointe Claire to write his statement for police.

An hour later, while filling potholes with his crew on St. Jean Blvd., Schiess says a Station 5 cruiser pulled alongside Schiess’s truck. Inside were the two constables who had made the arrest of the alleged car thieves. They had recognized Schiess and his truck and thanked him for his help.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Schiess, who has been working for Pointe Claire for eight years.