Groom Says Vows, Then Chases Thief

Jared Lightle didn't need his running shoes to chase a thief. After a renewal of vows ceremony with his wife, Stephanie, Lightle found himself running after one ... in patent leather shoes. The groom was loading gifts into his car in the parking lot at the Scottish Rite Temple in Joplin, Mo., on Saturday when his mother announced that a thief had swiped some of his cards from the gift table. The tuxedoed 28-year-old, his brother, and father went after the alleged thief—who Lightle says he saw with wedding cards in his hands. Rubberneckers at a car accident close by helped the wedding party, pointing out the direction the men should go, the Joplin Globe reports.

An officer on the scene joined the chase and caught the suspect—with loot allegedly still in hand—a few blocks away after he fell trying to clear a fence. Rosario Caruso, 31, has been charged with trespassing, larceny, and resisting arrest. "If we hadn’t caught the guy, it would have ended an otherwise perfect celebration on a very bitter note," says the groom, who first married his bride at a Fort Hood, Texas-area courthouse before he was deployed to Afghanistan. Saturday's event was intended to be their traditional wedding. ('Tis the season for unusual weddings.)