A man says his trailer was recently stolen from his driveway. He responded by turning detective.
In the end, Gage got his trailer back and the thief was arrested. And they caught it all on video.
Gage’s wife Amanda (@rewrittenbyamanda) posted the tale on her TikTok. Each part of the series has gone viral.
As of this writing, the video of the sting operation Gage participated in with police in a local Home Depot parking lot has 11.3 million views.
People are, in turn, impressed and shocked that the authorities let Gage play a part in the arrest.
To catch a thief
Gage says he located the alleged thief by looking up trailers for sale in their area. According to a local news report, Amanda posted, their trailer came up right away.
It was purportedly for sale online for $1,400.
With cooperation from the police, Gage arranged to meet the alleged thief at Home Depot.
In a video with the text overlay “caught the thief,” Gage approaches a man in a white SUV with a trailer hooked up.
He inspects the trailer, complimenting various features and asking why the man’s selling it. The man claims that he has recently purchased an enclosed trailer, and won’t be needing the open-bed one.
“I had one stolen out of my driveway a couple days ago,” Gage says to the man near the end of the one-minute video.
“Oh yeah,” the man replies.
“Know anything about that?” Gage says.
“No,” the man responds.
At that moment, a police officer comes around the side of the trailer.
A follow-up video shows the man’s arrest, reportedly for theft.
Gage turns the camera to face himself and says, “Yep and she is back home to daddy. All within a matter of 45 minutes.”
A citizen’s arrest …. sort of
Police don’t often let civilians participate in arrests. The potential for liability is rather high. For instance, if the man had pulled a weapon or otherwise become violent, Gage could’ve sued the department.
His local department apparently decided that this particular situation warranted an exception. People in the comments are surprised.
“I can’t believe they let the owner play a part in the sting. Huge liability,” wrote one. Someone responded, “This is Texas my boy.”
“Cop must of been a buddy of his, anywhere else they would tell us to kick rocks,” another opined.
According to a local ABC affiliate, there were actually multiple officers on the scene in advance of the sting operation.
Many of the comments compare the police in the video with those in their own jurisdiction. Most of these comparisons are unfavorable to the commenter’s local police.
“That’s definitely not in Canada. Police would tell us to fill out a report. Then go for lunch,” wrote an exasperated TikToker.
“Shoutout to the police,” said another. “Too many departments don’t care to get involved and will tell you to file an insurance claim.”
Praise for Gage poured in across each TikTok. Many thought it was hilarious that he tried to talk the man down from $1,400 to $1,200 for his own trailer. Several jokingly asked if Gage would help them recover stolen goods.
“Bro my tailgate was stolen, can I hire you to find it,” one jested.
People seem to think Gage could have a future as a police officer.
“That’s a gangster move right there!! Well done man!” wrote a fan.
@rewrittenbyamanda PT 2 Found the thief!
♬ original sound – Amanda
Amanda declined to comment via TikTok direct message.
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