We're all accustomed to thinking of our military veterans as heroes, and while every organization has its winners and losers, as a rule, we (at least the right-leaning among us) tend to view our veterans as exceptional people. Some of them, following discharge, go right on being heroes when the occasion calls for it. Ocala, Florida's own Shane Spicer, a veteran of the United States Army, is one such, as earlier this month he sprang into action to protect a pregnant woman who was the target of a serial felon and attempted carjacker.

Army veteran Shane Spicer had just started his day and was waiting for coffee at a Florida Starbucks while police were after a convicted career criminal who attempted to carjack a pregnant woman. 

The suspect, identified by police as Michael Prouty, was wanted for allegedly breaking into someone's home and stealing their car before crashing in a busy intersection.

Police dashcam footage shows Spicer jumping out of the passenger seat of the car behind the woman's vehicle and hopping into her passenger seat, trying to stop Prouty.

"I'm gonna get you, buddy," Spicer recounts jumping into action after witnessing Prouty pull the woman out of the car. "Like, you're not going anywhere now. Like, you crossed the line."

The thug crossed the line, and Spicer dragged him back across it and held him until the authorities arrived:

Bodycam video shows Spicer actually holding onto Prouty, who reportedly has 13 felony convictions dating back to 2000, while officers close in.

Spicer says his girlfriend and daughter were in the car watching while the incident went down. He told FOX 35 Orlando he was able to walk away from the "instinctive, reactionary" take-down just a little out of breath. 

"I feel like if you’ve got the ability to watch out for someone, that you should," Spicer said. "I would just hope that someone would do the same for my family."

Mr. Spicer is right, of course; if someone needs help like this and you can help them, you should. That used to be taken for granted, but sadly, doesn't seem to be the norm anymore. Too many jurisdictions are hamstrung when it comes to, you know, actually enforcing the law.

This brings us to the larger question: The perp, Michael Prouty, was wanted for burglary and auto theft; he was out on the street after a string of 13 felony convictions. Why was this guy running around loose? There are some people who are irredeemable, and Prouty sure looks like a pretty good example of that. And had Spicer not been in the vicinity, things could have come to a tragic ending; thugs like Prouty, the more they get away with crimes, the more they tend to escalate.

We are in a state of affairs where lawlessness is becoming the norm in our major cities. But fortunately, in our smaller cities, suburbs, and rural areas, people like Shane Spicer aren't that unusual and are capable of sorting things out if it's necessary. Good for Mr. Spicer; he is a hero if there ever was one, and if there is any sense of justice in Ocala, Florida, and I suspect there is, this is a man who shouldn't find it necessary to pay for his own drinks for some time to come.