Police: Tai Chi Class Catches Crook
Jeremy Chad Hall Charged With Kidnapping, Larceny, Assault
John Eby, WYFF News 4 Reporter
POSTED: 11:12 pm EDT April 29, 2010
UPDATED: 12:26 pm EDT April 30, 2010
ASHEVILLE, N.C. --
Asheville police arrested an alleged thief Tuesday evening with the help of a tai chi class.
Jeremy Chad Hall, 34, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, breaking and entering, larceny, misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
Sharon Fahrer said she was standing in the kitchen of her Montford Avenue home when Hall robbed her.
Fahrer said, "All of a sudden, this person came up and puts me in a choke hold and shows me his knife and says, 'I want your purse.'"
She said she led him to the spot where she kept it; on the way she said he asked where she kept her car keys.
"I said, 'I don't know,'" she said. "They were around my neck, but you know, I figured if he's getting my purse, I'm not giving him my car keys."
She said he ran outside with her purse, straight into nearby Montford Park, where a tai chi class was practicing.
The teacher, Trey Crispin, said he saw the man running by.
"And he seemed out of sorts, in a hurry. Not very graceful," Crispin said.
When the class heard Fahrer's roommate screaming that someone had stolen a purse, the class snapped into action.
Crispin said two people went to check on Fahrer, one called 911, and two more followed him to confront the thief.
Crispin said that when he confronted the man, he acted as if he had done nothing wrong.
"He's like, 'No, no, I'm being chased by people!' And I was like, 'I understand, but if you run, I'm going to chase you.' And then he kind of like short-circuited and then took off," Crispin said.
Crispin said he and the students took positions around the man as he hid behind a nearby house.
When police arrived, the tai chi class made their move.
"I had my good friend Cory Pines to my left. He was running flank. And my good friend James coming up behind me, and we just kind of did a nice little pincer move..." Crispin said as he drew his hands to a point in front of him, "...right to a cruiser."
Fahrer said the capture was a victory for the historic Montford neighborhood, which has worked to set up a neighborhood watch and which she said works closely with police.
"I feel like this is a very close-knit place, that people are willing to help other people," she said.
As of Thursday evening, police said Hall was in the Buncombe County Detention Center under a $50,000 bond.