A Detroit priest tackled and detained a suspected car thief until police arrived after a car crash outside a historic church on June 1.
Father Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest said he was in the parking lot of St. Joseph Shrine on June 1 when he heard tires screech and a loud crash. He ran toward the scene and saw a young man fleeing, according to FOX2 Detroit.
"I grabbed him [and] put him down,” said Father Commins told the outlet. “He was resisting a lot, trying to run away, definitely, and so I had to unfortunately give him a few punches and hurt my hand a little bit.”
Father Commins said bystanders urged him to stop the man. The priest tackled the suspect and, with the help of another church member, held him until police arrived.
A priest in full cassock tackled a car thief.
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) June 3, 2026
Rev. Jean-Baptiste Commins was in the parking lot of St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit when he heard screeching tires and a loud crash.
A man had crashed a stolen vehicle outside the church and tried to run.
Fr. Commins chased him down,… pic.twitter.com/jmZFYJgFZW
The priest said he used force to ensure “there was no threat, since I didn't know if he had a gun, if he had a weapon.” He noted that the suspect was engaged in what he would “definitely” call “suspicious behavior.”
“As soon as I had the police officers take care of this gentleman,” Father Commins added, “I rushed back to the lady" in case she needed a last rites “or a blessing.”
An 18-year-old was arrested, and three other people were detained, police said. Investigators believe the vehicle involved in the crash had been stolen.
According to police, officers attempted to stop the vehicle before it crashed into another car. A woman in the other vehicle suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
No charges had been announced as of June 2. Police said the investigation remains ongoing.
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, to which Father Commins belongs, is a community dedicated to traditional liturgy and the advancement of Christ’s kingship in the world.
The Institute’s website states in part that the community’s mission “is to spread the reign of Christ in all spheres of human life by drawing from the millennial treasury of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly her liturgical tradition, the unbroken line of spiritual thought and practice of her saints, and her cultural patrimony in music, art, and architecture.”
“The Institute accomplishes this primarily through a solid and well-rounded formation of its priests, rooted in Catholic tradition and carried out at its international seminary in the Archdiocese of Florence,” the site adds.
Asked what he did following the action-packed incident, Father Commins said he simply “went and had to do my prayers as usual, and have dinner with the community.”
He added with a laugh: “Just another day in the D."