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ATTLEBORO - When Vasileios Lykourinos saw a police officer fall in a violent struggle during a traffic stop Wednesday, he thought of a New Hampshire police officer killed in the line of duty just five days earlier.

The 39-year-old Foxboro man said he did what he felt he had to do.

Lykourinos said he stopped his car and ran after the suspect, who had fled into back yards off Park Street near city hall.

"Me and another citizen started running after the guy. I was running very fast," Lykourinos recalled during an interview Thursday.

The suspect and the two pursuers jumped over four or five fences before Lykourinos caught up with him. "After the last fence I jumped on the guy," he said.

A black belt in karate and a wrestler in his native Greece, Lykourinos said he put the man in a head lock and held on until police officers arrived.

"The guy said to me, 'Please let me go. Please let me go. I'll give you a million dollars'," he recalled.

"I told him to please calm down. The police are going to be here," Lykourinos said.

When the man complained he couldn't breathe, Lykourinos released his grip a bit, only to have the suspect continue fighting with him.

"He started to try to poke out my eyes," said Lykourinos, whose face still bore scratches from the struggle.

The other man with Lykourinos shouted for police while the suspect continued to struggle.

"The cops came in three or four minutes, but it felt like an hour to me," Lykourinos said.

Lykourinos said he was amazed the suspect continued to struggle with police.

"It took five men to put him in handcuffs," he said. The suspect, Ralph G. Giroux III, 22, of Johnston, R.I., was ordered held without bail after pleading innocent to 15 charges, including assault and battery on a police officer, being a fugitive from justice, driving without a license and giving a false name to police.

Police Capt. David Proia praised Lykourinos' action, and said the police department and police union plan to formally recognize him for his courage.

"I think it's very courageous. We're very pleased a civilian did step forward and took the actions he took," Proia said.

"If he hadn't done what he did, there's a good chance (the suspect) would have gotten away because we had no positive ID," the police captain said.

Giroux, who was identified Thursday through fingerprints sent to the FBI, is wanted in Rhode Island on pending charges of receiving 50 stolen leaf blowers and larceny over $500.

He is also on probation for larceny of a firearm, sale of a stolen firearm and breaking and entering, and risks returning to prison for up to four years, police prosecutor Richard Woodhead said during a bail hearing.

"That's why he beat the police officer, to avoid going back to jail," Woodhead said.

Giroux's girlfriend, who did not want to identify herself, wept in the court hallway after hearing Giroux would be held in jail without bail.

"He's really nice unless you provoke him," she said before leaving the courthouse with a friend.

Lykourinos, a married father of two sons who came to the United States 10 years ago, was on his way to a doctor's appointment when he saw Officer James Malley struggling with the suspect.

After his appointment, he checked in on Malley at Sturdy Memorial Hospital's emergency room. He said Malley thanked him for stepping in and was glad Malley, who suffered a shoulder and arm injury, will recover.

Malley, a veteran police officer, is out on injured leave.

"I did the right thing. I think everybody should do that. We'll be stronger as a community," Lykourinos said.

Seeing Malley struggle with the suspect made Lykourinos think about the New Hampshire police officer killed during a traffic stop last Friday.

"I feel sorry about that. These guys do their duty to keep us in peace," Lykourinos said. "I know I did the right thing."

His wife, Jeannie, thinks he did, too.

"It didn't surprise me. I know my husband. He's always willing to help," she said, watching over 2-year-old Pari while waiting for 11-year-old Niko to come home from school.

"He's a true hero and his sons would be proud of him," Jeannie Lykourinos said.