OCALA, FL (352today.com) – It’s a good thing Shane Spicer’s girlfriend, Victoria, needed a caffeine fix.
“We had literally only been awake like 25 minutes,” recalls Spicer. He, Victoria, and their 2-year-old daughter, Harley, were piled into their car at the Starbucks drive-thru on Pine Avenue when an internal alarm bell went off in Spicer’s head.
“Sitting in line. I just kinda noticed this dude sprinting up. By the look of him, he was a little out of place at 11 a.m. sprinting in downtown Ocala.”
The Ocala Police Department (OPD) says that ‘out of place’ man is 39-year-old Michael Prouty. They say he had been on a crime spree that started early morning Tuesday, Oct. 24, with the robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store followed by a home invasion in The Villages where Sumter County Sheriff’s Deputies say he stole a woman’s purse, cellphone and Cadillac.
ORIGINAL STORY: Ocala Police credit ‘citizen heroes’ for helping catch ‘career criminal’ on dangerous spree
Moments before Spicer saw him darting through the Starbucks parking lot, OPD says he crashed the stolen Cadillac into multiple cars at the intersection of North Pine Avenue and East Silver Springs Boulevard injuring multiple people and then took off running.
Fateful Collision Course
That’s where Prouty’s path collides head-on with Spicer’s.
“He ran up to the woman’s door and just yanked the door and at that point I already knew bad things were about to happen,” said Spicer.
Last month, OPD released dash and bodycam video of the dramatic events that unfolded and hailed the role two regular people played in bringing it an end.
OPD said Tom Episcopo grabbed ahold of Prouty which slowed him down. The other was Spicer who was in the vehicle behind the one they say Prouty tried to carjack.
“He’s taking the car. He’s taking that car,” an officer’s voice is recorded on police footage.
Spicer is seen in the video attempting to pull Prouty out of the vehicle. Prouty bails from the car and Spicer runs after him.
“At that point, I was already like locked in in my pursuit of it. I didn’t much care if anyone was helping or not because I was like, ‘I’m going to get this dude.'”
As the video cuts from dashcam to bodycam footage an officer with a weapon drawn is heard shouting, “Show me your hands. Show me your hands.”
The foot chase continues to the backside of the Starbucks. As officers round the corner, the video shows Spicer physically restraining Prouty from behind. An officer commands, “Let him go. Let him go. Let him go,” while another officer instructs Prouty to get on the ground.
“It’s just more instinctive than anything.”
Spicer said in the moment, you don’t have time to think. “It starts before you even realize it and then it’s over just as fast.”
Police Chief Mike Balken called his and Episcopo’s actions heroic.
“Just an old instinct. I guess to like help from being in the military and stuff. Some things never really go away.”
Spicer did two tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne division.
“All I thought about was what if she has a kid in the car,” said Spicer. “I later learned the next day that the girl is six months pregnant.”
Once OPD had Prouty in custody, Spicer checked on the stranger he helped and then his family left to get on with their day.
“I had things to do myself that day and it’s not like it’s something I planned to do or really even looked to get credit for or anything like that.” said Spicer. “The first thing I said to her (his girlfriend) when I sat down and caught my breath in the car was ‘this is why I always tell you to be aware of what’s going on around you’ especially now a days where things like this are happening all the time and more and more with the more people moving to Ocala.”
A lot on the line
I met with Spicer at Infidels Ink, his tattoo shop on East Silver Springs Boulevard, on Monday, Oct. 30, for the interview. He’s been tattooing for about a decade and had just held an event over the weekend to celebrate the third anniversary of his business.
“I never expected to be a tattoo artist. It’s something I kinda fell into and just had a natural knack for,” said Spicer
Harley, who still had the temporary tattoo on her arm from the weekend event, entertained herself by playing with plastic plates in between eating a snack.
Did Harley realize the danger her dad put himself in that day in the drive-thru?
“She was in her car seat. She watched the whole thing go down. She was cool though. She knew daddy was real out of breath when he got back in the car,” laughs Spicer. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
We wondered whether he thought about his own safety and what his family stood to lose when he decided to get involved. “I wouldn’t have put myself in it if I didn’t feel I was going to be alright,” responded Spicer.
During the struggle behind the Starbucks, Spicer says Prouty threatened to shoot him. Bravado that turned out to just be talk as Prouty didn’t have a gun on him.
Since Ocala police released the dash and body camera video, Spicer has become somewhat of a celebrity. “People ask, ‘Are you the Starbucks guy?'”
He’s really humbled about the whole notion of being called a hero.
“I mean it’s super cool and flattering… I just hope someone would do the same thing for my family,” said Spicer as he gives a soft kiss to the back of Harley’s head.
Since the drive-thru drama, he has been in communication with the woman he helped. They’re planning to get together for dinner so their families can meet each other under better circumstances.
And as for Michael Prouty – a man police say is a career criminal – Spicer has this hope, “Make better decisions in the future. Maybe think of all of the consequences of all of the innocent people that had nothing to do with your choices.”