EVERETT – A pair of car thieves learned that if the long arm of the law doesn’t catch up with you, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound truck driver will.
Last week, Chad Smirz shattered hopes for the crooks’ clean getaway by punching through the window of his father’s car and hauling out the stranger behind the wheel.
Ken Smirz’s Dodge Neon was stolen Aug. 24 from Campbell’s Drive In while the Snohomish man was inside the restaurant.
With some luck, father and son tracked down the car within 24 hours and led the cops to the thieves.
“My dad has been through hell the last few years. I knew we only had one shot,” Chad Smirz said.
That Tuesday, Ken Smirz, 56, and his dog Casey made their daily stop at the Silver Lake restaurant. Ken Smirz likes the coffee. The waitresses and cooks treat him like family. The place also reminds him of his late wife – it was one of their favorite spots.
Ken Smirz lives on a fixed income. He saved for two years to buy the Neon, a purchase he made just a couple of weeks ago. As he’s done most days since, Smirz pulled up close to the restaurant door, left the keys in the ignition and turned on the radio to keep Casey company.
Waitress Ginny Smith saw two men walk up to Smirz’s car.
“I asked Ken if he knew them. Next thing I know, I’m yelling that they’re stealing his car,” Smith said.
Ken Smirz, who struggles with neck and back injuries, grabbed his walker and headed outside.
The thieves stalled the car a couple of times, and Ken Smirz was able to reach through the passenger’s side window and grab at the keys. He was punched in the face and dragged a short distance before he let go.
“Once I knew they had my car, I started worrying about my dog,” he said.
The 16-year-old terrier mix jumped into traffic and froze until Ken Smirz approached.
Chad Smirz, 28, got the bad news by phone. He instantly felt guilty. His dad had invited him along, but he’d begged off.
“I guarantee they wouldn’t have made it out of the parking lot if I was there,” Chad Smirz said.
Both men were at Campbell’s the next day.
“I was nagging and nagging them to get out there and look for the car,” Smith said.
The Smirzes set out in Chad’s pickup. They spent a few hours searching park-and-rides without luck.
They had called it quits and were driving through Everett when Chad Smirz saw a white car roll behind a building. The glint of a rear wheel and the car’s tinted windows caught his eye. Chad Smirz had a feeling.
Bingo.
The license plate matched. Ken Smirz dialed 911 on a cellphone while his son started to tail the car.
“At that point, we just wanted the police to handle it,” Chad Smirz said.
The father and son spotted a couple of police cars headed their way, but they didn’t stop. The pair followed the car to a south Everett bank parking lot. Chad Smirz pulled up close, boxing it in.
He jumped out and yelled at the driver.
“It looked like he was reaching for something, so I punched the window out and grabbed him,” said Chad Smirz, who can bench-press 500 pounds.
Chad Smirz was hauling the man through the window when a group of police officers, guns drawn, swarmed the car.
“It was like they dropped out of the sky,” Ken Smirz said.
Police hauled out five people. The suspected thieves, 17 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of robbery. Another man, 32, was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property, and a fourth man, 33, was taken in for an unrelated warrant. A woman in the car was not arrested.
Police found several guns in the trunk and what appeared to be stolen goods.
There also was a knife under the driver’s seat, Chad Smirz said.
Police say they don’t recommend confronting thieves.
Chad Smirz admits he wasn’t thinking about safety.
“I’ve never been really religious, but God was definitely looking out for me that day,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and I want to be around for my son and my dad.”
What does his dad think about his son’s work?
“I knew he would do whatever he could in his power to get my car back,” Ken Smirz said.
“He also said, ‘I wish you wouldn’t have punched out my window,’” Chad Smirz said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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