Wild Coyote Surprises Burglar In The Middle Of A Heist

A thief trying to break into a car in Los Angeles, California, just ended up getting schooled by a very unexpected kind of authority.

A security camera captured exactly what happened. 

In the footage, the man becomes visibly startled by something out in the darkness, and starts backing up.

Then he starts full-on running. 

A wild coyote then can be seen prancing into the frame, eyes gleaming.

And it certainly looks like the animal intends to chase the thief down. 

"Out of nowhere comes a coyote to the rescue!" Cristy Trujillo, the stepdaughter of the owner of the car, wrote on Facebook.

This particular coyote probably doesn't realize exactly what kind of good deed he did. But it's not all that uncommon for coyotes, despite their bad reputation as a wild pest, to show a softer side. For instance, one coyote was discovered to be bringing food to his mate who was caught in a trap. Another time, a lost dog ended up joining a pack of coyotes for nearly a year. 

Coyote habitat often overlaps with human settlements and the coexistence between people and coyotes doesn't always go well.

In this case, though, the owner of this car was probably pretty happy that this wild neighbor showed up when he did.