While most bus drivers and attendants ignore pickpockets to avoid trouble, some brave bus staff risk their own safety to intercept robberies and ensure passengers’ safety.

In recent years, as buses have become a popular means of transportation for local commuters, students, the elderly, the physically challenged, and foreigners in large cities, pick pocketing on buses has also increased. Petty theives use weapons–sometimes in the form of needles that they claim are infected with HIV—to strip passengers of valuables and money.

Luckily, some courageous bus drivers and attendants are willing to sacrifice their safety for that of their passengers.

One such hero is Doan Van Tan Dat, 32, who has worked as a bus attendant on route 94 from Cu Chi to Cho Lon for four years.

Though Dat’s left hand is deformed with only two fully functional fingers, he managed to catch a pickpocket in the act and reclaimed a passenger’s cellphone in early January.

That day, when his bus was packed with passengers, he spotted a suspicious looking young man and watched him stealthily pinch a cellphone from a woman standing nearby.

Dat immediately grabbed his arm and demanded that the man return the phone. He now regrets that he let him go instead of handing him over to police.

“I did the right thing, so I’m not scared of revenge. I’m sure that the driver and many passengers will stand by me,” Dat shared, adding that he wouldn’t hesitate to intercept a robbery again.

Meanwhile, 38-year-old Nguyen Thanh Lam, a driver on bus routes 24 and 150, has also busted “too many thieves to remember” in the past 10 years.

Trained in martial arts and security, Dat’s chivalry was passed on from his father, who was also a crime-busting bus driver.

Whenever Dat hears a passenger shout “Pickpocket!” he immediately stops the bus and finds the thief at any cost.

“When I confront theives, passengers are often scared they will be harmed. But I wouldn’t deserve to be a driver if I let the pickpockets walk away with their crimes. It’s my responsibility,” Lam shared.

In his most recent feat on Jan 2, when a passenger shouted “Pickpocket!” Lam instantly stopped the bus and locked the doors. He approached an innocent looking young man and searched him for the purse he had just stolen from a woman. Lam then handed the pickpocket over to local police, who told him that the man was a wanted criminal from northern Hai Phong province.

Nicknamed “Lam crazy” by other bus drivers for busting crimes and inflicting trouble on himself while doing so, Lam has been threatened several times by criminals. Thieves have threatened to stab him if he dares to interfere with their “business.” He adamantly ignores all threats and vows to continue his crime-busting mission for as long as he can.