Scott McRae's personal trainer says his morning workout often leaves the entertainer feeling pumped, but even he would have been surprised to learn his charge followed up Tuesday's gym session with a chase through backyards and over garden fences in pursuit of an alleged criminal.
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McRae, known for his extensive screen and stage career, helped Wollongong police apprehend a man reportedly seen at the scene of a car break-in on Tuesday morning.
"I was driving home after the gym, and saw a guy getting something out of a car, and saw broken glass on the road," he said.
"I pulled up, and thought he might have done something. I watched him, then he ran across the road."
McRae stopped his car and gave chase, yelling for help from police officers at the Achilles Avenue PCYC in North Wollongong.
"I'm off and running, chasing him over fences and jumping through backyards. I couldn't see him, so I got back in my car and drove to my place, and had this feeling he might have been in my yard," he said.
Sure enough, McRae said he spotted the man hiding behind a trailer on his property, and the chase was on again.
"The police turned up and spotted him going over a barbed wire fence, then he ran into the pub and they got him," he said.
He praised the work of officers from the PCYC, who caught up and arrested the man in the car park of the North Gong Hotel.
"It was great from those guys, really good," he said.
McRae blamed his trainer and a recent incident where he himself was a victim of a theft, for his decision to take up the chase.
"The endorphins were running from the gym. The trainer said I'd be pumped up, but I don't think he meant this," he laughed.
"Last week someone stole a cover off my motor scooter. I was just sick of this stuff, so I thought I'd go after him."
Wollongong police said a man had been charged with stealing from a motor vehicle. He was refused bail, and will appear before Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday.
