Video captured in Oakland, California, showed the moment an Asian couple’s son chased four alleged robbers away from his parents with a machete.
The son, who asked not to be identified, told ABC 7’s Dion Lim the men approached his parents as they sat on their front porch following a trip to the grocery store on March 29 at about 4:30 p.m.
A man wearing a black hoodie and red mask appeared to grab at the woman’s throat when another person came up and did the same, according to the video:
“In addition to grabbing the gold chain from off his mother’s neck, you can see the robbers reach into his father’s pockets to take a cell phone and keys,” the report said.
Moments later, the son came running down the steps wielding a machete as he took off after the group.
The man said he was glad he was home when the incident occurred.
“I heard my mom screaming and that’s when I ran out. If I hadn’t come out they would have done a lot worse,” he said.
The son explained he was changing clothes when he heard the commotion and ran out the door without his shoes but thought to grab a machete to keep the men from entering the house.
Additional video taken from above the street appeared to show the four individuals get into a dark-colored vehicle and flee the scene:
“Lim said running the license plate resulted in no hits which may indicate the plate is fake,” SF Gate reported Sunday.
The alleged victims reportedly said they want Oakland Police to take specific action and voiced displeasure about response times and the amount of care shown regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong announced plans Friday to address violence in the city.
“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) reports there have been 34 homicides this year. That is a 230% increase over this same time last year when 10 people lost their lives to violence in Oakland,” the press release said.