Former NFL linebacker Napoleon Harris has done well for himself in retirement, getting elected to the Illinois State Senate and owning a couple of pizza places in the Chicago area. And now Harris can add Superhero Crime Fighter to his résumé.
When four men tried to rob Harris, he not only fought them off but gave a description of them and their vehicle to police, and when police caught up to them it turned out that three of them were believed to be involved in a murder.
The incident took place when Harris, working late at his restaurant, told his delivery driver he could go home and Harris would handle any remaining deliveries himself. A call came in and Harris went out to make the delivery, but it turned out that the address he was given was a vacant house, and four men had made the call as a ruse, planning to rob a delivery driver.
What the men weren’t counting on was the possibility that the driver they robbed would be a former NFL linebacker. The 37-year-old Harris was able to fight all four of them off, and when they ran away, he followed them to their getaway car, called 911 and gave the description to police.
The men ditched the car, but police located it and found blood inside, CBS 2 in Chicago reports. DNA analysis of that blood showed it belonged to Lester Jones, a man who had gone missing and been found dead this month, the victim of an apparent robbery and murder.
With help from information provided by Harris, police eventually tracked the men to Georgia, where three of them were charged with murder. The Atlanta Journal Constitution identified the murder suspects as Lawrence Hines, Malik Mayer and a juvenile whose name is not being released. The fourth man is not suspected of being involved in the murder but is expected to be charged with the attack on Harris. Police said the men are also suspects in other crimes.
Harris, who was a starting linebacker for the Raiders, Vikings and Chiefs, has not spoken publicly about the incident. But the spokesman in his State Senate office noted that, “This wasn’t the average 5-foot-9 delivery guy.”