How a roller derby badass chased down a mugger — and saved the day

Move over, Superman: there’s a new superhero in town. And the only weapon she needs is a pair of roller skates.

Heidi Muat is a typical 42-year-old woman from Spokane, Washington, except for one thing: she’s also a badass roller derby woman better known as Ida B. ChoAzz. She lived up to her name last weekend when she saw a thief steal an elderly woman’s purse at a grocery store and decided to chase him down on foot. Oh, and she saved the day.

“I had no idea what was going on but I thought, ‘He needs to be chased because that doesn’t look like his purse,’” Muat told local TV station KXLY-4. “I just flung my sun glasses and everything and started running after him.”

After a chase that wove through traffic on a four-lane freeway, she caught up with the suspect and cornered him. The line that made the thief quiver in fear?

“I can outrun you. Give it up.”

After that, Muat told KXLY-4 that he did just as she said, and tossed her the purse. Muat returned the purse to its rightful owner, and while the suspect escaped, police tracked him down the next day thanks to Muat’s call.

Muat is a nurse by day and a member of the roller derby team “Spokannibals” by night. The team actually posted a link on Facebook to a news story about Muat’s heroism and the comments from her fellow derby skaters just rocked. “I used to skate with Ida B ChoAzz. She’s nothing to mess with on or off of the skate floor,” wrote one commenter. Another put it perfectly: “Badass Ida.”

“I would describe [her] as a hero,” Spokane police officer Teresa Fuller told the New York Daily News. “It took a lot of courage to chase after the guy.”

I for one think this take-down of heroic proportions deserves a dramatic reenactment. What about it, Hollywood? Let’s give Spiderman a rest and let this awesome woman take center-stage.

(Image via Shutterstock)