In what turned into a Good Samaritan relay Wednesday morning, a group of Whitehorse mechanics tackled and apprehended a man who'd been on the run from the law since last July.

The series of events started at 8 a.m. when a man was noticed rifling through a vehicle at Whitehorse's Metro Chrysler.

After the suspect fled the scene, a one-booted mechanic gave chase through the slippery city streets and was later joined on the hunt by his co-workers.

In an interview with the Star Wednesday afternoon, one of the Samaritan mechanics, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he noticed the man breaking into his car while he was getting ready for work.

'I got to the shop (at 8 a.m.) and one of the other technicians noticed someone had hopped into my vehicle and was rifling through it,' the mechanic said.

'He saw me and told me that he was just trying to warm himself up, and then he just took off.

'I only had one boot on at the time, and I started chasing him,' the mechanic said.

The Ray Street-Third Avenue area, where the dealership is located, has been the target of a number of break-ins in recent memory, he added.

The mechanic said after chasing the man through the streets, incurring a few wipeouts on the way, the group finally caught up with their suspect.

'We saw him in the Motorways yard; we saw him and then we got him with a football tackle.

'We just decided that we were not going to let him go. We didn't know what he had of mine or what else he'd been doing.'

Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. John Sutherland said this morning the objject of the tackle, 30-year-old Christopher Fillingham, was wanted on a nationwide warrant for allegedly jumping parole.

'Basically, when they (police officers) arrived, they (the technicians) had already chased him down and tackled him.

'When we identified him, we discovered he was wanted on a parole warrant,' Sutherland said.

He said after officers frisked the man, it was discovered that he was carrying a weapon.

'Subsequent to being apprehended, we discovered he had a knife in his inside pocket.'

Sutherland said he is happy Fillingham is in custody and the mechanics are OK.

However, he cautioned citizens that catching criminals on their own may not be the best practice, and that report ing suspicious behaviour to the police is the best course of action.

'I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people of the value of contacting the RCMP when you witness suspicious behaviour; it really helps us out,' he said.

'You know the neighbourhood; you're the eyes and ears.'

Contacted this morning, a spokesperson for Corrections Canada said a nationwide warrant was put out on Fillingham after he allegedly violated his parole conditions upon being released from Matsqui prison in Abbotsford, B.C., in early July.

'We went Unlawfully At Large (UAL) on July 6, 2005. When he was released from Matsqui Institution, he was supposed to report to Kamloops; he never showed up.'

Fillingham, the spokesperson explained, had served two-thirds of a two-year sentence he'd received for 'property-related offences' before starting his run from the law.

Fillingham, he said, will likely be sent back to prison.

The spokesman said Fillingham would have finished his penal obligations by the end of August had he actually reported to Kamloops.

Now, he will likely have to serve the six months he was free as well as the reminder of his original parole period, the spokesperson said.