DETECTIVE INSPECTOR HOWARD GROVES, 42
Visiting the U.S., an English tourist catches a thief

It was supposed to be a welcome break from work for British police officer Howard Groves, who arrived last March for a week of sightseeing in New York City with girlfriend Rachel Double. But stepping out of their Manhattan hotel on just their second morning in town, the pair heard shouts from a nearby store. "I went into police mode right away," says Groves, a detective inspector in the London suburb of Uxbridge. "I started to walk across the street, but I remember thinking, 'Whoa, this is New York, be careful.' "

Very careful. Next thing he knew a man burst out of the shop. "He was running toward me covered in blood, shouting, 'Help, help, they're trying to rob me,' " says Groves. When two suspects emerged from the shop and began walking calmly down the street, Groves barked at them. One took off, but the other glared at Groves, then pulled a gun from a paper bag. "Without saying anything—bang!" recalls Groves. "The shot echoed around the buildings."

Unhurt, he and Double, 28, ducked back into their hotel lobby. But Groves, who like most British policemen has never carried a firearm on duty—and had never before been shot at—refused to give up. He followed the two men and quickly came upon a parked patrol car. Hailing an officer and identifying himself as a cop, he headed toward a subway stop where the suspects had fled. "I ran into the subway thinking, 'This is not happening to me,' " he says. One suspect jumped onto the tracks and escaped, but Groves—now with three NYPD cops—spotted the other and helped wrestle him to the ground, seize his gun and handcuff him. Only later, during a press conference, did fear get the better of Groves. "There was a sea of photographers clicking away," he says. "My knees were shaking."