Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 3, March 2003

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Postman comes to the rescue

By CLAYTON PARK

Many small business owners complain that all their postal carriers seem to deliver is bad news, as in bills, but you'll never hear those words from Thomas Payne of Watch & Battery.

Certainly not after what the Lake City merchant witnessed on Jan. 22.

Payne recalls showing a new watch to a prospective customer on that day, shortly before lunchtime, when his son, Tim, who also works in the shop, noticed that the customer was acting strangely.

When Tim asked for the watch back, the customer, a man in his 20s, instead made a dash for the door.

As fate would have it, at that very moment, U.S. postal carrier John Davies entered the shop to deliver that day's mail.

Upon hearing Tim shout, Davies immediately grabbed the suspect who wriggled free after a brief struggle and left the shop, running north along the west side of Lake City Way.

But in his haste to escape, the suspect left some items behind in the postal carrier's grasp he no doubt wishes he hadn't: his coat and backpack. The latter contained the suspect's identification card, which included his full name and address. The belongings and ID card were promptly turned over to the police.

Payne describes the suspect as standing approximately 6-foot-1, weighing between 160 and 170 pounds, and having short, light brown hair. The suspect wore a blue-and-white polo shirt.

"The policeman said 'If the kid comes back asking for his coat, tell him it's at the precinct!'" Payne recalls.

Payne and his son profusely thanked their postal carrier for his act of bravery. "He could have easily stood back and let the kid go," marveled Payne, who added that no one would have blamed Davies if he had chosen to not get involved. After all, the suspect could have been carrying a weapon.

Davies, says Payne, modestly shrugged it off, saying he simply reacted and never thought about the potential for danger.

"It was a heroic thing to do," says Payne. "You know, these post guys don't get much recognition. We should recognize the fact that our postman does more than bring us the mail. He's here to protect us!"