LaCrosse Justice

My maternal grandparents live in a small farming community, LaCrosse, in Eastern WA (about an hour or so from Pullman) and not much happens in their small town.

Much to my surprise when I clicked on Komonews the other day to read up on the daily headlines I saw an article about LaCrosse.

Here is the article for you:

LA CROSSE, WA. - Some are calling it La Crosse justice after a man stole another man's wallet and ended up getting tackled, hog-tied and left in the middle of Main Street for police to find him.

The other day 25-year-old Sean Lee stopped by 69-year-old Larry Garrett's house in LaCrosse with a sad story to tell.

"I need to get some gas, from Seattle, my wife's having a baby in Lewiston and I'm out of gas," Larry recalled.

So Larry paid for Lee's gas, even made him some food.

"He said, 'Oh my God, I'm so hungry, hadn't eaten in three days,' so I said well I'll get you something to eat," Larry said.

He says he had just finished heating up a plate of frozen taquitos for him when Lee stole his wallet.

"I went over to put my card in my billfold, and my billfold was gone," Larry said.

Lee then took off.

"Boom he was gone. That (guy) can run like a deer," Larry said.

It turns out Sean Lee should have stayed inside because outside, Lowell Garrett - Larry's cousin - was waiting.

"All of a sudden they stepped out on the porch. This guy was on the dead run," Lowell said. "They said, 'Stop him, he's got my wallet!' "

Lee tried to get in his car to make his getaway but Lowell wasn't letting him get away that easily.

"I grabbed him right by the front of the shirt, pulled him, jerked him," he said.

Lowell then wrestled the man out of the car and onto the pavement.

"Laid him in the street, then June came over and sat on him. I told Steven my brother, I said, 'Don't let go of him!' I went and got some plastic ties and put those on his legs," Lowell said.

Once they all tied Lee up, then they called the police. Instead of taking him over to the sidewalk. They just left him sitting tied up in the middle of the road.

And so there Lee sat under Lowell's watchful eye.

"You leave that rope alone or I'll break your fingers," Lowell recalled telling him.

So in the middle of La Crosse's main street, Lee sat hog-tied until the police arrived 20 minutes later. Larry Garrett had some choice words he gave to Sean Lee after the man tried to steal his wallet.

"What the hell's a matter with you?" Larry recalled telling him.

The sheriff said that they don't recommend citizens taking these kinds of measures to apprehend someone but in this case it did help them collar a criminal.

I guess you shouldn't mess with the men and women of LaCrosse, WA...they might just hogtie you and leave you in the middle of the street!!

Although I have to say if you are an honest person and are passing through and need help they will definitely help you out. The townspeople are quite friendly....especially my Grandpa and Grandma!