WASHINGTON, D.C.— Police in Washington, D.C., recently awarded a former Franklin man a medal of merit for catching a purse-snatcher.

Tim Gleason, 34, was honored during the Metropolitan Police Department 12th annual Awards Ceremony at Gallaudet University.

“Whatever I did is something the real police do every day,” Gleason said Friday. “There were six or eight people from my neighborhood that ran out, and police got called several times.”

At about 8 p.m. Feb. 1, Gleason was taking his dog for a walk in his Shaw neighborhood when he heard some shouting.

“I thought it was kids playing, and I kept my eye in the direction where it was coming from,” he said.

A bartender who has lived in the nation’s capital for 2½ years, Gleason spotted two men running in an alley near his home and saw a woman with blood on her face chasing them, yelling that she had been mugged.

“I realized something was going on and I ran after them,” he said. “I tried to circle around since I was about 20 seconds behind them. I just happened to cross one guy with the purse and I tackled him.”

He never did see the woman because she was taken to the hospital.

Gleason’s mother is proud of her son.

“I really appreciated the D.C. Police Department honoring Tim,” said Mary Ellen Gleason, developmental lab facilitator at Paul D. Camp Community College. “I appreciated people who are very dedicated to what they do, taking the time to commend my son in his courage. I am proud of him, and grateful to all of you.”

Tim Gleason is also the son of Patrick Gleason.