A Thanksgiving burglar got more than he bargained for early Thursday morning after breaking into an Antioch church. It turns out that the church’s pastor is trained in martial arts and confronted the would-be thief.
“I yelled at him to stop, and that the police were on their way, and he ran and I grabbed him and we ended up wrestling in the church parking lot,” Pastor Nick Neves said.
The burglar did not know that the pastor was trained in martial arts.
“I like to keep fit, and I studied jiu-jitsu and kickboxing and I have a mixed martial arts background,” he said. “So it was very helpful to be able to wrestle this gentleman without doing much damage to him.”
After struggling for 12 to 15 minutes, the burglar ran out of steam until police arrived.
“I was able to pin him to the ground and he got up and tried to get away several times, but basically tried to wear him down because I knew I could outlast him,” Neves said.
Jeff Strawther has been a member of Family First Church for many years. He is incredibly grateful that his predecessor was not injured.
“It could have gone a completely different way and we thank God it didn’t,” Strawther said. “He is very strong and we are very grateful to God that he is our pastor and not our enemy.”
The 46-year-old pastor said the church takes pride in helping others. In fact, they only provided groceries for 130 families in need. He said the intruder didn’t have to steal.
“It’s just ironic. If he had come a few days earlier, he would have been blessed and given some food and cared for,” Neves said. “But he decided instead to smash windows, desecrate property and do something that would harm the ministries.”
Pastor Neves said he hopes the burglar will change his behavior and choose good over evil.
This article originally appeared on NBC Bay Area.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
