News

Nov 22, 2023

Moment Marine veteran fights off robbers in wild pepper

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A Marine veteran fought off a pair of men who followed him home and pepper-sprayed him in the face during a botched robbery, according to video and kin.

Dramatic footage from inside the veteran's garage shows the moment two men in hoods walk up to him around 12:30 p.m. Sunday as he was coming back to his Fullerton, Calif., home with his wife after church and a stop at Home Depot, said family of the unidentified victim.

One of the men could be heard telling the vet that someone hit his Tesla, drawing the Marine's eye to his bumper, before suddenly pepper-spraying him in the face.

The vet puts his hands out to try to block the spray before the robbers charge at him, with one attempting to elbow the Korean Marine Corps veteran in the back.

But the assault quickly backfired as the vet started swinging, landing punches on one of the would-be robbers and chasing them out of his driveway.

"He fought back hard, and I think they were caught off guard because someone that old would fight back," the veteran's son told local ABC 7.

The attackers could be seen fleeing as a nearby crew of landscapers rushed in to help scare them away.

The victim's son, who did not want to be identified, said the suspects were two of three men who followed his parents home in a dark sedan.

"My dad was kind of confused because they came around him real quick," the son said. "They pepper-sprayed him all over.

"Thank God he had glasses. I think it gave him a little bit of the ability to fight back."

The son thanked the landscapers for coming to his father's aid, noting that the robbers were likely scared off when they saw the group of men rushing to the scene.

"Those guys are heroes," he said. "My dad was screaming, fighting back, and they came running around and helped chase the guys. [The assailants] didn't realize there were more guys here. And they just boned out."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Fullerton police are investigating the incident.

Police believe the attack may be connected to a similar case in nearby Rowland Heights, where a pair of thieves tailed an 80-year-old man home and attacked him with pepper spray, making off with the victim's $2,500 watch.