A California pastor on Thanksgiving used jujutsu and his mixed martial arts experience to fight off a suspected burglar who broke into a church with an ax, NBC News reported.
Pastor Nick Neves told Fox News Digital that he went to the First Family Church in Antioch, California, early on Thursday morning to investigate an alarm that went off. As he entered he discovered an intruder "coming out with a handful of our stuff."
"I told him 'stop,' basically he was under citizen's arrest and he tried to flee, and I grabbed a hold of him and we ended up wrestling around in the parking lot for about 15 minutes until the cops could get there," Neves told NBC.
"I like to stay fit, and I studied in some jujutsu and kickboxing and I have a mixed martial arts background, so it was very helpful to be able to grapple with this gentleman without having to do much harm to him."
Neves added: "God was very gracious and protected me from much harm there," and said, "Hopefully the guy can think about his crimes and his sins and hopefully repent."
The Antioch Police Department said in a statement that the suspect broke a window to enter the church using an ax before attempting to steal various items.
"When the burglar saw his wicked deeds had been discovered he decided to fight with the pastor instead of repent," the department said.
The police department added: "What he did not know was the pastor would win this battle of good and evil and he held down the perp until APD arrived and placed the man in custody. We are thankful today that the pastor was uninjured during this incident and hopeful that with amazing community members like we have been highlighting lately, we can turn the tide on crime in our city."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.