Suspected car burglar was actually a Good Samaritan checking that vehicles were locked

A 20-year-old man who was detained by civilians under the belief that he was a car burglar turned out to be something of a Good Samaritan, police said. Alexander Louis, of Norwalk, Connecticut, was spotted going into cars at Coating's Auto Body at 12:42pm on Friday, police said.

Believing that he was stealing items from the vehicles, Coating's employees chased him down and caught up with him nearby. The Coating's employees detained Louis until police arrived. Witnesses gave statements about what they perceived to be thwarted burglary attempts, and security footage of the incident was handed over to police.



Police took Louis into custody but did not find any stolen items on him. Louis was about to be charged with burglary when he told police what he was really doing at the auto yard. Louis told officers he was simply making sure all the vehicles were locked and when he found an unlocked door, he locked it.

Police reviewed the security footage and saw that Louis did not enter any of the cars or rifle through any of the belongings in the car. The footage showed that once he opened the door of an unlocked car, he would lock it and move to the next car. However, there are "no trespassing" signs clearly posted throughout Coating's Auto Body, and Louis was charged with criminal trespass. Louis' initial $20,000 bond was lowered to a promise to appear in court.