A Maltese man living in Australia has been hailed a hero and a good Samaritan for chasing down a gun-wielding thief and retrieving the stolen goods.
Citizens of Melbourne may be sleeping a little more soundly in their beds after reading in Australian newspapers about Nick Stagno Navarra, 26, who was on his way home from a concert with a friend at around 11.15 p.m. on July 28 when they stopped at a petrol station in west Melbourne to buy a drink.
As they parked the car, a man wearing a balaclava suddenly ran out of the store clutching a red bag.
“I got out of the car and told my mate we should chase him. It was a decision based purely on instinct and adrenaline from the concert,” the strongly-built Mr Stagno Navarra told The Sunday Times.
The pair chased the man down the street for 300 metres, before they found him cowering under a parked truck. The man asked if they would let him go if he returned the bag, and Mr Stagno Navarra replied they would. But as the man emerged, he reached for his pocket, so Mr Stagno Navarra – a fitness instructor – grabbed him and pinned him against the wall.
They were marching him back to the store to call the police when the bandit escaped their clutches and fled. Nevertheless, the pair returned all the stolen goods and were able to give police valuable information about the thief, who was linked to two other armed robberies in Melbourne’s north on the same night.
It was only after speaking to the police that they realised the thief had been carrying a gun.
“We weren’t afraid when it happened because I’ve known my mate for years, so we had each other’s backs. I would probably do the same thing again, although if I knew he had a gun I’d maybe have to think twice,” said Mr Stagno Navarra, who emigrated from Malta to Australia as a child and returns as often as possible.
The incident was reported on Melbourne TV news and in newspapers, including Australia’s highest-circulating daily The Herald Sun, which labelled the men, whose identities were not known at the time, as ‘good Samaritans’.
Comments were left by readers on heraldsun.com.au branding the men ‘heroes’ and ‘supermen’.
But superman or not, Mr Stagno Navarra – who has many family members still living in Malta – was a little concerned about what his mother would think.
“I didn’t tell her what happened straight away as I knew she would have been very worried, but she was proud that I have good morals and I help others. She has advised me to be a bit more careful in the future, but knowing me I probably won’t be,” he said.
Mr Stagno Navarra is not the only action man in his family; he is the cousin of ex-Valletta footballer and Malta international Luke Dimech and nephew of the recently deceased and greatly respected referee Richard Stagno Navarra.