by Chris Conte
MT. JULIET, Tenn. - A good Samaritan was trying to help the victim of a car crash on Wednesday when he had his own car stolen, by the person he was trying to help.
"The car was upside down in the water. I heard someone yelling. He was just full of blood everywhere," recalled 43-year-old Stephen Petricca.
Petricca heard a loud boom behind his house on Old Lebanon Dirt Road in Mt. Juliet around 2:30am on Tuesday. After getting out of bed and into his GMC SUV he arrived at the crash scene to find 20-year-old Stephen Fields crawling out of his Dodge Charger which had gone airborn off the road and landed in the water.
"I went over the ravine wall edge to try and help my neighbor, that's when I heard my truck rev up and I turned around he (Stephen Fields) jumped in the driver seat of my car, put it in gear and took off," Petricca recalled.
Mt. Juliet Police then began pursuing Fields in the car he had allegedly stolen from the good Samaritan who tried to help him.
Dash cam video showed the car speeding past ambulances and fire trucks that were headed to the scene of Fields crashed car as he allegedly sped away in a stolen one.
The chase lasted for about four miles.
"He required officers to remain on the scene of one crash, so now you have to have officers focus on him. It required a lot of resources and it's a good thing he didn't hurt anyone else," explained Sgt. Tyler Chandler with the Mt. Juliet Police Department.
Fields was eventually caught by a third good Samaritan who held the 20-year-old at rifle point after he saw authorities chasing him through Clearview Drive in Mt. Juliet.
"It was dangerous what he did," said Sgt. Chandler.
Stephen Fields faced multiple charges including theft of property, resisting arrest, evading arrest and leaving the scene of a crash.
Officials recovered Stephen Petricca's stolen SUV which needed a few thousands dollars worth of repairs.
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