After a long week of hard work, many Midshipmen enjoy a trip to the Annapolis Mall. However, it’s not everyday that they end up in hot pursuit of a thief like Midn. 2⁄C Ian McMenamin and Midn. 2⁄C Thomas Flanagan of 30th Company did on Jan. 12.
''I was at the mall with some friends and we decided to go into Sol Mio, a sunglasses store. We began looking around and a guy walked in and started looking around for about five minutes,'' said McMenamin. ''As he walked out, the store clerk noticed he had taken a pair of sunglasses. He asked me if I would follow the man while he called security and locked up the store.''
McMenamin followed the suspected shoplifter out of the store, trailing the man around the mall until authorities caught up with them. When confronted by mall security, the suspect took off running towards the mall exit.
''We gave chase and the store clerk actually caught up to him and tackled him through the automatic doors,'' said McMenamin.
''The shoplifter got up quickly and began to run again. With the manager still on the ground, McMenamin and I continued to chase him around the outside of the mall,'' said Flanagan, who joined in the chase when he saw the shoplifter running. ''We chased him about 200 yards when his pants began falling down and he was getting tired. We cornered him into the parking garage where more mall security and county police officers helped detain him.''
The stolen merchandise was damaged, but the clerk and mall security thanked the Midshipmen for their efforts.
''I don’t believe in theft and I’m not comfortable letting someone get away with something like that.'' said McMenamin. ''It’s not something that happens everyday, and my instinct reacted. I simply did what I thought was the right thing at the time.''
''They acted in a way that we would expect Midshipmen to act,'' said Lt. Charles Mello, 30th Company Officer. ''Being observant enough to notice something isn’t quite right and having the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing and correct the situation are qualities that we try to develop in all Midshipmen.''
McMenamin is a political science major with a concentration in international relations. Upon graduation, he hopes to enter either the Marine Corps or SEALs. Flanagan is also a political science major, and hopes to become a Navy pilot.
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