He demanded she empty the cigarette cabinet, before threatening to return and kill her if she told anyone.
According to Waikato police, the thief took off and broke into a bach owned by extended family, where he stashed the stolen meat in a freezer and hitchhiked to a nearby ferry landing.
Slikas, who heard about the incident through Maybe, jumped into a car with a customer and went in search of the man, who was found near a ferry attempting to sell cigarettes to a group of teenagers.
When Slikas approached him, he was "acting aggressively and pacing around".
"The police were going to be half an hour as it's a 30 minute drive from the next town."
To distract the man's attention, Slikas tricked him into believing police were in a nearby car, before spear tackling him to the ground.
"Once I got him on the ground, people helped to grab his hands behind his back and a guy grabbed some zip ties and handcuffed him with them, until police arrived.
"For 20 minutes I knelt with one knee on the side of his head in a puddle on the concrete.
"He was pretty upset and telling me to get off his head, saying he was going to come back and kill me."
Slikas took the estimated eight-inch flick knife off the man, emptied the piles of cash from his pant pockets and removed the cigarettes from his bag.
Police arrested the 24-year-old Hamilton man and charged him with one count of aggravated robbery.
Slikas, whose friends joked his actions resembled something out of a Batman movie, said he was not worried at the time.
"It was risk assessment checked and I knew it was all good as long as the knife wasn't out.
"I was pumped hunting him."
Police, who were considering a commendation for Slikas, were thankful for his efforts.
"They were amazed," Slikas said.
"The officer I spoke with sat back on his seat after taking my statement and said 'I don't think you understand what you've done here, Jay-it's a big deal'."
