A retired wrestler pinned a mugger to the ground who tried to steal his Rolex in the middle of a busy West Hollywood street.
The altercation happened Wednesday at 1pm in the 900 block of North Sweetzer Avenue, just minutes from West Hollywood City Hall, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The former athlete, who opted to stay anonymous, described the incident to NBC4: ‘A small black sedan pulled up, a guy jumped out with a gun, came at me and attacked me.’
But what the mugger did not know was that his attempted victim had a fighting background, which he promptly put to good use.
The man said: ‘I was able to disarm and take the gun from him.
‘I had him pinned down, he was trying to get up.’
The attempted robbery could have been fatal.
The retired wrestler said: ‘The gun was loaded when they pulled the chamber back. One popped out of the chamber, so it was ready to go.’
A retired wrestler beat up his attempted robber in the middle of West Hollywood
The incident happened Wednesday at 1pm in the 900 block of North Sweetzer Avenue
Police took the attempted mugger into custody
His girlfriend rushed in to help after he was disarmed.
She said: ‘When the gun was wrestled to the ground, I’m the one that went and grabbed it and picked it up and threw it over the apartment fence.’
The LA County Sheriff’s Department office in West Hollywood told the Daily Mail that the attempted mugger was in custody.
However, the getaway driver escaped.
Patrick McCloskey was working from home when the scrap happened.
He suddenly heard screams and walked out to an ‘intense’ scene, without a clue of what was going on.
McCloskey told KTLA: ‘The chaos was so intense, I didn’t know who jumped who.
‘I ran to the door to see what was happening. At that point, I hear [the girlfriend] yell, “Get the gun, get the gun!”‘
The mugger was armed with a gun as he demanded the ex-wrestler’s Rolex watch
The LA County Sheriff’s Department office in West Hollywood told the Daily Mail it was still seeking the second suspect
Footage during the attempted robbery captured McCloskey standing outside of his house calling for help on the phone.
He was heard saying: ‘Someone’s got a gun, someone pulled it on someone, someone tried to tackle a nice lady. It’s happening in front of my house.’
McCloskey recalled how the tables turned on the mugger.
He said: ‘He didn’t know that the guy was a retired wrestler, so he was able to get the gun off the guy and wrestle him down.
‘He held him down and he showed no mercy. I think, at one point, the guy’s arm got dislocated and they just held him down.’
The LA County Sheriff’s Department office in West Hollywood told the Daily Mail that it did not know whether any charges would be filed, as the attempted robber’s case was due in court Friday.
