Friday column: It’s perp versus pro — and no contest

You’d have to call Terrance Allan Walcott unlucky.

Very unlucky.

The precise morning the29-year-old decides to grab a purse and laptop from a woman walking in downtown Edmonton, a pro football player happens to be driving by:

* Before 7 a.m.

* Without music playing.

* Not in a good mood.

The lack of music was important, for it allowed Kitwana Jones of the Edmonton Eskimos to hear the screams.

“I just see this guy running with, like, two purses in his hand,” Jones said. “And I seen this little old lady, she’s just running behind him and screaming for dear life, yelling ‘Help, help, help.’ So I was looking and said, ‘Oh man, is this woman really about to chase this guy?’ ”

The bad mood is important because his vexation helped propel the player down the street after Walcott, who had a 40- to 50-yard head start.

“It was mad-early in the morning. I was upset — for real,” said Jones, who was on his way to a pancake breakfast with Alberta legislators, which probably didn’t enhance his mood. “I didn’t even get a good stretch in or nothing. I had to chase this guy, and I’m mad.”

Already the victim of ill fortune, Walcott added to his woes with what can only be called extremely poor judgment.

Said Jones: “ … I’m like, ‘Why you out here trying to rob old women who are really trying to make an honest living going to work?’ And he just laughed.”

Walcott’s flight already had earned him a hard tackle and a forearm to the head; his inappropriate mirth earned him another forearm, along with a kick. And in case you were wondering, no, the police aren’t planning to charge Jones with a crime for the extracurricular activity.

The luck of the robbery victim was significantly better than that of Walcott. Before Jones took chase, the woman actually was pursuing the perp, a frightening scene Jones witnessed from his car.

“I’m like, ‘No, don’t chase him down the alley.’ Know what I’m saying? Anything could happen to her.”

That anything didn’t is attributable to Jones, whose actions made him a local celebrity but who insists, “I ain’t no hero. I just seen someone who needed help and jumped in.”

Jones is 6-foot, 227-pound defensive end who ran a 4.39-second-40-yard-dash at Hampton University, so I take his point: The perp was overmatched and from that perspective, Jones, indeed, is not a hero.

On the other hand, in an athletic world populated with Pacman Jones, Matt Jones, Plaxico Burress, Mike Danton, Michael Vick, et al, Kitwana Jones will certainly serve as a hero until a real one comes along.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.