Chris Marzan knew something was wrong when a Sacramento police cruiser was driving through South Sacramento at night without it's lights on.
The former security guard flashed his lights at who he thought was an unknowing police officer. As he drove past the cruiser in the oncoming lanes, the driver turned on the lights and made a U-Turn toward Marzan, he thought he was being pulled over.
As he cautiously peered into his rear view mirror, he watched the cruiser swerving from lane to lane and soon after crashed into a telephone pole.
“Then it turned into, 'OK we have an officer in distress or it's a stolen patrol car,' to 'this guy needs to be off the streets because he's driving reckless,'” Marzan said.
Marzan called 911 and reported to police that he suspected a police vehicle had been stolen. Marzan stayed on the phone as he continued to follow the patrol car.
Dash camera video shows Marzan following the driver, Zachary Samaha, as he continued driving into oncoming traffic and through a red light.
When Samaha finally stopped at the A-1 Market on Sunnyslope Drive, he went into the store with his own handcuffs and made a citizens arrest. Marzan waited at the store until police arrived.
"If I can convey any message to everyone is this. If you see something, don't just sit and watch,” Marzan said. "If you do nothing at all, you're just as much the problem."
Spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler with Sacramento Police said the department is looking into the incident and reviewing station policy to make sure something in the like does not happen again.
The officer whose patrol vehicle was stolen had initially responded to a call at the corner of Stockton Boulevard and Riza Avenue, Chandler said.
That response was for a report of an assault, according to the department crime log for Saturday evening. The suspects assaulted and stole from the victim and then fled the area.
Sacramento Police say Samaha was allegedly driving under the influence when he took a patrol car.