A California pastor was determined to defend his house of worship and fought off a would-be burglar with his jiu-jitsu training. The incident happened on Thanksgiving at First Family Church in Antioch. Pastor Nick Neves says he went to the church early that morning after an alarm went off and discovered a smashed window and a door propped open. As the would-be burglar was coming out of the church, Neves says he stopped the man and told him he was under citizen’s arrest. “Oh, really” said the man and tried to run. Bad idea. Really! Said the pastor, who has practiced martial arts – particularly brazilian jiu-jitsu – since he was in high school. He restrained the man until police arrived and arrested him. He says he never hurt the man, just applied restraint until police arrived.
The suspect used an axe to break a church window and enter the building. He left behind a few thousand dollars in damage to the church and has been charged with burglary, robbery and battery. Pastor Nick says he doesn’t have any hatred or bitter feelings toward the man. He hopes he can sit in jail and think about what he has done and change his heart and think twice about robbing others.
