Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!

A friend of mine in the UK sent me a copy of this recent newspaper article, and I just had to share:

Hero Buzz Lightyear blows thief's cover
By Nick Britten
(Filed: 19/11/2002)

A thief hiding in bushes after stealing a Buzz Lightyear toy from a shop was caught after it blurted out one of its catchphrases.

Police with a sniffer dog were about to give up the chase when the intergalactic law enforcer shouted: "Buzz Lightyear . . . permission to engage."

Shaun Markey, 27, knew the game was up when the sniffer dog ran to his hiding place and began growling at him. Within seconds he was under arrest. Markey, 27, stole the £26.99 toy, the space ranger hero of the Toy Story films, from Woolworths in Hereford.

When the store's security tag set off the alarms, staff chased him down the street and the police were called. Sgt Tim Powell, who led the search, said: "We traced the offender to an area near a bridge but were having difficulty finding him. Then Buzz Lightyear joined in and Markey's cover was blown."

Sgt Powell said the arrest was a success for a new initiative set up in Hereford linking shops to the police via walkie-talkies. "This time, though, we had the assistance of an intergalactic super-hero."

The stolen toy has eight phrases, including "I'm Buzz Lightyear . . . I come in peace" and "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue".

Markey, from Hereford, appeared before the town's magistrates on Friday and admitted theft. He was given bail and will be sentenced next month.

He said yesterday: "I was a good way ahead of them and I hid in some hedges with the toy in my bag while the police and the sniffer dog looked around for me.

"I heard one of the police say, 'He's got away, let's forget it.' Then I must have pushed the button on the toy. When the sniffer dog came over to me and started growling, I just stood up.

"At the police station the police kept making fun of me. I felt like such an idiot. If it had not been for Buzz Lightyear, I would definitely have escaped."

Buzz is so my hero!