Civilian hears about manhunt on iPhone app; tackles and restrains suspect

OHIO COUNTY, W.Va. --

The combination of a keen eye, quick thinking and technological savvy led to a civilian finding, tricking and restraining a burglary suspect.

Chris Fetty was at Mountain Supply and Service in Triadelphia, where he works, when he saw several police cruisers speeding down the street. He used a police scanner iPhone app to listen in to what was happening and learned that Ohio County Sheriff's Deputies were searching for a burglary suspect in a wooded area.

Soon after, Fetty spotted the suspect -- Melvin Clifford Crow, of Glen Easton -- across the street.

"You got to step up as a citizen. I mean, you can't let these things go on," Fetty said.

The incident happened near the intersection of Route 40 and Gashell Run Road in Triadelphia. Officers said Crow ran through a wooded area, eventually making his way down a steep hill behind Liberty Distributing.

That's where Fetty spotted him and took him down.

"I went running over there, got to the bottom of the hill. He stopped because he seen me," Fetty said.

He thought quickly, made up a story and approached Crow. He said he was looking for a deer he'd just shot and asked if the suspect had seen it.

"I went walking up there. I said, 'Did you see that deer I just shot? He went running right by you.' And the guy looked kind of relieved because he goes, 'Oh no!'"

Fetty said he then got close enough to tackle Crow and held him in a headlock until police reached them.

NEWS9's cameras were rolling as police got the call that a breaking and entering suspect who was on the run could be in a civilian's custody. In the meantime, nearby workers waved down police officers who were searching for the man and directed them behind Liberty Distributing.

Fetty said, "I slipped and my foot, slipped, on a root and I fell backward. And he was on top of me, and by that time the sheriff's department had already come -- they were halfway up the hill (with) guns on him."

Officers cuffed Crow and patted him down before taking him into custody, then it was back to work for Fetty, with quite an adrenaline rush.

The Ohio County Sheriff's Office is handling the case and said Crow is facing charges of attempted burglary and fleeing form an officer. Investigators said other charges are pending as they piece together exactly what happened.