ST. LOUIS – A security guard at Barnes Jewish Hospital helped police catch a man suspected of stealing from a nearby construction site.

According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, the theft happened Sunday in the 400 block of South Kingshighway Boulevard.

Police said a hospital security guard was on a routine patrol of the parking garage when he saw a man walking around the rear of a Dodge Ram and noticed multiple spools of copper wire, cases of water, and a piece of machinery in the truck bed.

The security guard suspected the items had been stolen from construction site. Police said the guard confronted the man, identified as Ladarold Ford, 46, and ordered him to the ground.

Instead, Ford jumped into the driver’s seat, and the guard wrestled Ford from the truck and called police for assistance.

Officers arrived at the scene and took Ford into custody. Police found a total of 32 spools of copper wire, six cases of water, and a mobile cable puller machine in the Dodge Ram. The wire belonged to an electric company.

According to police, officers also found suspected narcotics on the instrument panel. They were confiscated and sent to the police lab for testing.

Police said the entire incident, including the theft itself and the scuffle with the security guard, was captured on surveillance video.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Ford with stealing – $750 or more and first-degree trespassing. Ford remains in custody on a $10,000 cash-only bond.