Off-Duty Texas Firefighter Slams Down Would-Be Robber

Video has been released of an off-duty Mansfield, Texas, firefighter who executed a perfect WWE slam on a would-be robber at a gas station.

On June 26 at the Exxon Oasis Food Store on 9th Street in Midlothian, Daniel Gaskey, who not only serves as a firefighter but also served in the Marines, stood in front of the cashier when Dylan Bearden, 19, wearing a bandanna over his head and face, approached him from behind and pulled him to the side so Bearden could step in front of the cashier. Gaskey quietly drew aside and behind Bearden, raising his hands to indicate his acquiescence.

Then Gaskey saw that Bearden possessed a knife.

The firefighter took one quick step, threw his arms around Bearden and hurled him to the floor, where Gaskey held him until police arrived.

Gaskey spoke to cw33.com about the incident:

Initially, I was just shocked that someone would be putting their hands on me. I glance over and realize he’s got a black hood or mask over his face, so immediately it’s obvious what his intentions are … So he moves me and goes up to the cash register, to the cashier, and pulls out a fixed blade knife and tells her, “This is gonna be quick and easy,” you know, something about “Give me the money.” I have the element of surprise at this moment while he’s talking to her, so I jumped on his back and went for the control of the knife, grabbed his arm and flipped him over to maintain control of the weapon and get him on the ground. I wrestled the knife away from him and I just subdued him and maintained control of his body until the police arrived a few minutes later.

Gaskey added:

Once I had control of him, he didn’t fight anymore. I kept my pressure on his wrists, I kept my weight on his back, and we basically just sat there until the cops … There was no fight left in him and so there was no need for any more force. The cops were like, “Do you understand what’s going on?” and he said, “Yes, sir” and they put the handcuffs on him, no problem.

Gaskey said he grew up wrestling from childhood. He concluded, “The reaction was instinctive and everything I did, I like to say it was just muscle memory. I feel like someone who had the ability to do something and did it. I would like to think that there are many people out there who would have done the same thing if put in that situation….  I didn’t need any coffee after that, I’ll tell you that much.”

Bearden was charged with aggravated robbery.