A California pastor received an unwelcomed guest for Thanksgiving in the form of an ax-wielding burglar.
The Antioch Police Department said in a Facebook post that the pastor of First Family Church went to check on an alarm early Thursday. As he arrived, he came across a burglary in progress.
“When the burglar saw his wicked deeds had been discovered he decided to fight with the pastor instead of repent,” cops wrote. “What he did not know was the pastor would win this battle of good and evil and he held down the perp until APD arrived and placed the man in custody.”
Pastor Nick Neves told NBC News when he saw the burglar, he ordered him to stop and said the cops were coming.
“I grabbed a hold of him and we ended up wrestling in the parking lot of the church,” he said.
Neves, 46, has a mixed martial arts background with some training in jujitsu and kickboxing. That MMA experience helped as he was able to control the suspect without hurting him, the pastor said. After about 15 minutes of wrestling, the burglar ran out of gas and police arrived soon after.