An employee of Oxley’s Cafe by the Numbers went from making heroes to making himself a hero yesterday, after chasing down and helping apprehend Jay Young, 24, accused of trying to pass bad checks at the Central Classroom Building bookstore.
Eric Harrelson, a senior in English and a former Lantern staff writer, was in the kitchen at Oxley’s, located in the Tuttle Parking Ramp, when he saw two employees from the university bookstore chasing Young on foot toward the Tuttle Garage.
“They looked a little too serious and were running a little too fast to be just messing around,” Harrelson said.
Joining in the chase, he ran out the kitchen door, ripped off his apron and threw it aside. Young made it to his car, a black Mustang, which was parked in a handicapped space on the first floor of the garage.
“I hopped over a railing and tried to cut him off,” Harrelson said. “I opened the passenger side door and got in with the guy.
“I kicked and smashed up the gear shift to prevent him from driving away,” he said. Harrelson also kicked at Young’s hands, which desperately were trying to shift the car into reverse for a speedy getaway. Harrelson was hanging out of the car when the gears were slipped into reverse.
Even though the emergency brake was still engaged, Young was able to back his car out. Harrelson, still struggling with Young, was able to pull his legs into the car before the passenger’s side of the car slammed against a wall.
The university bookstore employees were attempting to pull Young from the car and snatch the keys from the ignition at this time, according to Harrelson.
“He started yelling that we better get off of him or he was going to crash the car… like we were just going to say, ‘Oh, OK.’ We were in this for the go,” he said. The three men were able to wrestle Young to the ground, though he made multiple attempts to run away.
“He even tried to run away from the police when they showed up,” Harrelson said. The entire struggle lasted two or three minutes before officers made it to the scene, he said.
“I just figured I was young and spry and could maybe help,” Harrelson said. “I didn’t do anything special. Please don’t make me out to be Superman.”
Young appears in court today at 9 a.m. for his arraignment and is being held in the Franklin County Jail.
Young is not a student at Ohio State, and it is possible he tried passing bad checks at the Central Classroom Building Bookstores on Monday as well, according to University Police.
