A California pastor trained in mixed martial arts fought off an axe-wielding robber who broke into his church on Thanksgiving Day.
The robber used an ax to break a window at First Family Church in Antioch in the early morning hours and was confronted by Pastor Nick Neves, who went to check on the church after hearing the burglar alarm go off.
The would-be thief, whose identity has not been revealed, attempted to fight the preacher.
“I yelled at him to stop. He said the police were on their way,” said Neves, 46. NBC News. “Then he ran and I grabbed him and we ended up fighting in the church parking lot.”
The two wrestled for nearly 15 minutes, with Neves drawing on his training in various martial arts.
“I like to stay healthy,” Neves told the magazine. “And I study jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, and I also have a background in mixed martial arts.”
This training “allowed me to deal with this gentleman without causing too much harm,” he said. The pastor was able to hold the intruder to the ground until police arrived.
“I was able to pin him to the ground, but he tried to get up and run away several times,” said the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trained chaplain. “But basically I was just trying to tire him out because I knew I could outlast him.”
Antioch police said Neves walked away from the scuffle unharmed and the robber was taken into custody.
The pastor said he wished the man had just walked through the church's front door and been taken care of. The church has already provided groceries to about 130 local families.
“It's completely ironic,” the pastor said. “If he had come a few days earlier, he would have been blessed, fed, and cared for. Instead, he broke windows, desecrated property, and damaged ministries. I decided to do something that would give…
Jeff Stroller, a longtime member of the church, told NBC News that Neves is “very tough” and that he is “grateful that he is our pastor and not our enemy.” .
“I might have entered [a] “It would have gone in a completely different direction and I thank God it didn't happen,” he said.
