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Off-duty guard helps arrest carjacker in Amman

By Dana Al Emam - Jul 23,2016 - Last updated at Jul 23,2016

University of Jordan campus security guard Ali Hamaydeh is honoured by UJ President Azmi Mahafzah recently for helping in the rescue of a family and the arrest of a suspect (Photo courtesy of UJ)

AMMAN — When Ali Hamaydeh stopped at a restaurant to pick up his dinner last week, he did not expect to rescue a family and catch a suspect. 

“Everything was normal” when the University of Jordan (UJ) campus security guard parked outside a restaurant in Amman’s Jubeiha neighbourhood at around 9:30pm last Monday, he told The Jordan Times on Saturday.  

Shortly after, a Saudi car parked in front of him and the driver went into the restaurant, Hamaydeh recalled. 

“When the car sped off quickly and the man came out of the restaurant shouting, I knew that somebody had hijacked the car,” he said. 

Hamaydeh gave chase and was able to corner the stolen car almost 1km away, but the hijacked car overturned three times with four children and a housekeeper inside.

The hijacker fled, and onlookers called the Civil Defence Department to rescue the passengers in the car, as two of the children were lightly injured, the off-duty guard said. 

“I ran to catch the hijacker who went out of sight,” he said, adding that he was able to find him around 2km away after asking residents of the area and the guard of a nearby building.

The hijacker was standing at the side of the road and “looked extremely normal”, Hamaydeh said.

“I walked slowly towards him and pretended I was talking on the phone so he would not suspect I was after him and run away,” the 32-year-old added. 

Hamaydeh caught the man and forced him into a restaurant where he kept him for around seven minutes until the police arrived and arrested him.

“There is nothing extraordinary in what I did…. It was a normal act of humanity,” he said.

UJ President Azmi Mahafzah honoured Hamaydeh, and the owner of the car was also very grateful, he added. 

 

“I thank God that nobody was badly hurt,” Hamaydeh said.

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