Witnesses say that Hollywood A-lister Tom Hardy is just as fierce in person as he is on screen.

"It was mental "“ like he'd switched to superhero mode in an action movie," said Arun Pullen, a 22-year-old resident of Richmond, London who saw Hardy go barreling down the street.  

Hardey is no stranger to challenges and, apparently, he's not one to back down from confrontation either.  

Known for taking on almost threatening roles, Hardy has built his career on physically intense characters:

In 2011, Hardy played MMA fighter, Tommy Conlon, in Warrior.

In 2012, He was Bane in the Dark Knight Rises...

He was Mad Max in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road

But earlier this week, he was the bane of a couple of young thieves' existence...

Find out what Tom did when he spotted two thieves steal a moped and crash into a Mercedes - turn to the next page!

Two teenagers on a stolen moped crashed into a Mercedes in Richmond, south-west London earlier this week.  

They would have gotten away with it too, if Tom Hardy hadn't been around.

"He went off like a shot in pursuit and looked furious," said Pullen. "... the route was like an assault course."

Hardy chased one of the thieves down the street, through back gardens and over fences.

He finally apprehended the thief and made a citizen's arrest.

"Tom Hardy's clearly not a man you'd mess with. I think he even checked the kid's ID before cops took over," said Pullen.

The BBC reports that a Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed that Hardy did detain one of the offenders. The 39-year-old actor's spokes person declined to comment.

[h/t The Sun]