An Antioch, California, pastor fought off an allegedly axe-wielding burglar at First Family Church just after midnight Thanksgiving morning.
The New York Post noted that the pastor, Nick Neves, has MMA training.
NBC News quoted Neves recounting the moment he confronted the alleged burglar: “I shouted at him to stop, and that the police were on their way, and he ran and I grabbed a hold of him and we ended up wrestling in the parking lot of the church.”
Neves added, “I like to stay fit, and I studied some jujitsu 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.”
He said he basically wore the alleged burglar down and held him for police.
Neves observed that the church gave food to some 130 families in need for Thanksgiving and that the would-be burglar could have gotten food, too, had he come at the proper time in the proper way: “It’s just ironic. If he had come a couple of days earlier, he would have been blessed and get [sic] some food and be cared for. But he decided instead to smash windows and desecrate property and do something that’s going to hurt the ministries.”
KTVU reported “a long axe and a small push dagger” were recovered by police at the scene. It is believed the alleged burglar used the axe to make entry into the church.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.