A young postman who killed a robber in a car chase was deemed a "good Samaritan" by police in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, on Monday.

Police said the postman, in his early 20s, was parking his van when he saw two men on a motorcycle grab a woman's purse and take off. Without hesitation, the postman drove his van after the two robbers.

The robbers didn't stop at the postman's warnings and the motorcycle suddenly slipped and hit the van at a construction site about 500 meters from the robbery.

"I immediately got out of my van after the collision," recalled the postman, who would only give his last name Yu.

"When I saw the two severely injured robbers, I was terribly sorry and was afraid that I might be jailed for it."

One robber died while the other was badly injured and is being treated in a hospital in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong.

"I didn't mean to hurt them. I kept blowing my horn and shouting to ask them to stop. What I wanted was to catch them and send them to the police," Yu said.

Yu said that he was worried and couldn't sleep the night before county officials came to visit him and assured him he would not be prosecuted for the robber's death and that his act was brave and righteous.

The deputy head of Xinfeng county and top officers from the local police visited Yu on Tuesday and awarded him 3,000 yuan ($475).

According to Pan Kangdi from the command center of the Xinfeng public security bureau, police made the judgment based on the surveillance video of the robbery and the victim's testimony.

"The woman told us that she was a total stranger to Yu, and we saw it clearly from the video that Yu immediately volunteered to run after the robbers after hearing the woman's cries for help," Pan said.

"Yu didn't intend to run over the two robbers. The crash was purely an accident," Pan said.

"We have publicized Yu's brave act and rewarded him because we want to encourage the general public to do good deeds and free them from legal worries of doing good deeds," Pan said.

In Pan's opinion, the government needs to reward more brave acts like this because nowadays fewer people will step forward to give a helping hand when they witness a crime.

In January, a teacher drove his car to chase three robbers in Guangzhou, killing one and injuring the other two.

The teacher's behavior was later recognized as a righteous act.