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Boxing Coach Takes Down Alleged Thief Accused Of Swiping Boxes From Lobbies

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An alleged thief picked the wrong guy to mess with when he swiped an Amazon box from an Oakland apartment building.

The suspect, who was also caught on camera, was eventually taken into custody, and the boxing coach who caught him offered him some advice before he was hauled off by police.

The tenants who live in the North Oakland apartment complex where it happened receive a lot of packages in the mail, but some of them end up in the hands of thieves.

One culprit has been caught on surveillance camera numerous times swiping boxes from building lobbies in the Bayard Street area.

Property manager Mike McSorley recognized the suspect early Wednesday.

"Because he was wearing the same clothes and outfit that we spotted him on all the other surveillance, so I knew it was him as soon as he walked past me," McSorley said.

That instant recognition helped McSorley capture and subdue the suspect. He took him to the ground and held him there for several minutes until Pittsburgh Police arrived on the scene and arrested him.

The incident was captured in a series of photos.

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(Photo Provided)

"Some of our employees came around the corner, and I think he got spooked and he kind of rammed into me to get away, and I grabbed him and got him on the ground and just held him till the police came," McSorley said.

By day, McSorley manages properties, but by night, he trains professional boxers at his gym just down the street from where the suspect was caught.

But he didn't rough up the Amazon box thief; instead, he offered him some advice.

"I just told him, you know, whatever it was that caused him to do this he needs to change his life and I told him I'd pray for him," McSorley said.

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