Hero priest tackles suspect and helps woman after hit-and-run in Detroit

A French-American priest is being hailed as a hero after springing into action just outside St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit this week.

Rev. Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins was in the shrine parking lot Monday night when he heard a loud crash and the squealing of tires just down the road. He ran to the street just in time to see a man running away from the scene toward him, wearing only one shoe. Then he heard a voice cry out, “Stop him!” And that’s when Commins followed his first impulse — flying into action — in full cassock.

Speaking with Detroit’s local Fox affiliate, Commins said he grabbed the suspect and “put him down.” The young man was resisting quite a bit, so the French priest said he had to “unfortunately give him a couple punches and hurt my hand a little bit,” leaving the priest with some cuts and a possible fracture.

The priest said he was uncertain if the suspect had a weapon, so he wanted to make sure “there was no threat.” Another parishioner helped the priest hold the man down until officers were on the scene.

“As soon as I had the police officers take care of this gentleman, I rushed back to the lady [in the struck vehicle] and made sure she just didn’t need the anointing of the sick or blessing,” Commins said. “I was there too with the medics; she was not very responsive, but her eyes were twitching a little bit.”

The 18-year-old suspect was allegedly driving a stolen car when officers pursued him. He sped when they tried to “initiate a traffic stop,” Fox News Detroit reported. During the chase, the car rammed into another vehicle, where the woman sustained minor injuries.

As soon as he knew the woman was safe, Commins went back to normal priestly life. “Had to do my prayers as usual and have dinner with the community,” he said, adding: “Just another day in the D.”

Commins serves within the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, which celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass. He received his high-school education in one of the institute’s prestigious schools near Paris prior to joining the seminary in Florence, Italy.

Commins currently serves as the pastor at St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit and as an honorary board member for Regina Caeli Academy, a pre-K-to-grade-12 classical home school hybrid with more than 25 centers across the nation.

The priest was aboard the “Good News Cruise” earlier this year, offering the Traditional Latin Mass to those onboard the cruise. Other clerical participants in that cruise included Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Father Mike Schmitz, and Father Leo Patalinghug.

This story was first published by The National Catholic Register, the sister partner of EWTN News, and has been adapted by and updated by EWTN News.