Imagine you’re a woman walking alone in New York City when six men descend on you. They start heckling, pulling at your hair, and before you know it, they’ve snatched your Airpods right out of your ears. Worse than the theft is the panic—these criminals don’t look like amateurs. You spot police officers and realize these thugs are already fleeing from the law, evading arrest for who knows what other crimes. Things look bleak. Then, something unexpected happens. Your hero doesn’t arrive on horseback or in a squad car. He pedals by on a bicycle, wearing a Domino’s uniform.

Alou Bathily had only been in the U.S. for two months, working as a delivery driver on the Upper West Side. On a chilly March night he was pedaling double-time to make his final delivery of the evening before the pizzas got cold. Then he saw a man fleeing from the police, crossing 72nd Street and making for Broadway.

It wasn’t Bathily’s fight. Many folks wouldn’t have dared put themselves in harm’s way, thinking I’ll let the police deal with it. But Bathily told CBS New York he didn’t think twice: “I told myself I’m gonna help the policeman to arrest the guy, to stop the guy.”

Bathily sped ahead, cutting off the suspect’s path with his bike and confronting him face-to-face. He yelled, “I said stop. Now you got to stop.” When the thug tried to bolt anyway, Bathily grabbed him and threw him to the ground. “I sat on him on the floor,” he explained, as police arrived to make the arrest.

Lovell Ambrister wasn’t just fleeing for a petty theft. According to the NYPD, he had been using counterfeit $50 bills throughout the day, buying small items and pocketing real cash as change. “He was throwing counterfeit bills out of his pockets while running,” a police officer later revealed. Bathily’s quick action not only stopped a robbery but also put an end to a larger scam targeting local businesses. When asked if he was afraid during his citizen’s arrest, Bathily casually said, “This is nothing.”

The NYPD praised Bathily’s courage and credited his actions with preventing further harm. “He acted without hesitation,” one officer noted, highlighting the delivery man’s bravery. Thanks to Bathily, the officers apprehended Ambrister and prevented himt from causing more harm to the community. Bathily went beyond delivering pizza that night—he delivered justice. You can see the CBS interview with this heroic deliveryman in the video below:

As Bathily received his hero’s thank you, and the adrenaline began to subside he realized he was still on the clock—and his pizzas were getting cold! So he wheeled his bike around and pedaled as fast as he could. According to the NYPD, Bathily was able to save the day and still honor “the 30-minute delivery guarantee.” But something tells me that if he’d told his harrowing story, his grateful customers would have forgiven his being a minute or two late.