Truth is stranger than fiction.
Jillian Brown stepped out of her apartment on Tuesday morning to find her car had been stolen. One day later, she saw her stolen car parked less than four blocks from where it had been taken, so Jillian took matters into her own hands.
"My initial reaction was there must be some kind of divine intervention putting this car in front of me right now," said Brown, who was cycling when she spotted it. "I just thought, I can't let him get away."
Brown, having reported her 1997 Toyota Tercel missing hours earlier, was shocked to see the car with her licence plates parked on Assiniboine Avenue. She started toward it when someone hopped in and began to drive away.
The thief, noticing Brown peddling beside him, pulled over and politely asked her if she needed some help.
"Canadians are so polite through and through," said Brown with a chuckle. "Not just the citizens, but the car thieves, too."
Brown shook her head and said she was fine, but as the car began to drive away again she panicked and yelled out to the man that she needed to borrow a cellphone. The driver shook his head and drove off.
"He must have thought I was a total loon," college student Brown said.
As the car started a turn north on Fort Street, Brown again took after the car. When she caught up she screamed at the man that he was driving her car and better get out of it.
"He was literally as scared as I was," said Brown. "He parked the car, got out and said he was sorry and that he didn't steal it and then just walked away. I was left on the street with my bicycle and my stolen car still running."
Brown was able to get help from some American tourists passing by and the car was later taken to the MPI compound.
Brown's rollerblades, a book of CDs and her CD player had been stolen from her car. Police found a switchblade, an X-Acto knife, and a screwdriver on the front passenger seat.
Brown does not know when she will get her car back.
I have no idea where the fire is now but I'm glad it moved the other direction. 
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