A Vancovuer Island woman is nursing scrapes, bumps and bruises while getting kudos from her community after she chased down and tackled a break-and-enter suspect this week.

Ashley Stevenson was in the bathroom of her Nanaimo home at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when her dachshund dog started growling.

鈥淭he dog was in there with me and he was growling at the door, but he鈥檚 kind of senile, so you know, who knows?鈥� Stevenson said.

At the same time her partner, Joe Squire, was standing on the front porch of their home talking to their next-door neighbour when a young woman, carrying a backpack, casually stepped out their front door, just three metres from where he was standing.

鈥淪he looked at me and said, 鈥楬ey,鈥� and just starts casually walking down the driveway,鈥� Squire said. 鈥淚 looked at my neighbour and said, 鈥楧id that just happen?鈥欌��

The neighbour confirmed it had and Squire alerted Stevenson.

鈥淲e were both in the house and we believe that she also was in the house already and was in the office stealing all of our computers,鈥� Stevenson said. 鈥淲e were both upstairs and our office is downstairs.鈥�

Squire gave chase in their car, but Stevenson started chasing the woman on foot. When she spotted the suspect coming out of a neighbour鈥檚 basement door, the pursuit was on.

鈥淚 just acted and I ran through six backyards and I hopped four fences,鈥� Stevenson said. 鈥淚 was wearing slippers. I don鈥檛 even know why 鈥� I just went into 鈥楾hat鈥檚 my stuff. I鈥檓 getting it back.鈥� I was taunting her, which is terrible. She started slowing down and I went, 鈥極h, no. You鈥檙e slowing down. This isn鈥檛 looking good for you.鈥欌��

As the women ran along the edge of a small ravine behind homes on Shelby Ann Avenue, Stevenson flagged down Squire, resumed the chase, caught up with the suspect again, knocked her down and then leaped on her.

鈥淎s she was falling, I just grabbed my backpack from behind and then threw all of my weight down,鈥� Stevenson said.

As the women wrestled, the suspect hit Stevenson on the head with a rock. Just as Stevenson started to tire, Squire arrived and helped hold the woman, who was trying to strike him with the rock, until police arrived.

鈥淲e had her nicely gift-wrapped for them. It was a good day for them,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut they were wonderful and they knew her. Yeah, she鈥檚 known to police.鈥�

Stevenson said she鈥檚 grateful for the the RCMP鈥檚 fast response and for support expressed for her by friends on social media and her neighbours, whom she鈥檚 come to know since the incident.

鈥淢y post on Facebook really brought a lot of people in my neighbourhood to reach out to me and we鈥檙e going to have a get together and a meet and greet over the holidays and it鈥檚 a reason why community, you know?鈥� she said.

Stevenson also hopes the woman she caught will get help, now that she鈥檚 been arrested, to turn her life around.

According to police, the arresting officers found all of the stolen items.

Natasha Harris, 28, appeared in provincial court in Nanaimo on Wednesday and has been charged with break and enter and two counts of assault with a weapon.

鈥淕ood on these two for doing what they did,鈥� Const. Gary O鈥橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said in a press release. 鈥淲e would, however, be remiss to not point out they could have been seriously harmed during the struggle.鈥�

Police never advocate getting into physical altercations with suspects.

鈥淥fficers were responding and if they had simply followed the suspect at a safe distance and provided updates, the outcome would have been the same,鈥� he said.

Stevenson has multiple bruises and had difficulty walking Thursday, but she had to retrieve the laptop which contains her university course projects and irreplaceable photos and memories.

鈥淚n 20/20 hindsight I probably shouldn鈥檛 have done that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 should鈥檝e just called the police, but she had my backpack, which had my laptop and my projects for school worth 40 per cent [of the final grade],鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 let that go. That鈥檚 your future, so I had to get her.鈥�

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