Pastor Nick Neves of First Family Church in Antioch, California, recently used his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training…
To stop a burglary attempt!

Neves, who has been practicing BJJ since high school, found himself in a tense encounter after responding to an alarm at the church.
When he arrived, he discovered a shattered window and an open door, clear signs of a break-in.

Moments later, the suspected burglar emerged from the church carrying stolen items.
Neves immediately confronted him, declaring a citizen’s arrest.

Here is what he had to share about the incident in an interview with the CNN, as reported by WSAZ3:

The perpetrator came out with a handful of our goods, and I stopped him.
I told him he was essentially under citizen’s arrest, that the police would be there, and he needs to stop and wait for them.

The suspect, however, attempted to flee.
Drawing on his BJJ training, Neves restrained the man until police arrived and took him into custody:

t was never my goal to hurt the man or to do him harm.

I was just hoping to keep him from getting away so that justice could be done and our church could be protected.

According to police, the suspect used an axe to smash a church window to gain entry, leaving behind several thousand dollars in damage.

Despite the property loss, Neves expressed no animosity toward the man:

I don’t have hatred towards him.
Hopefully, he’ll have to sit and think about this, and it’ll change his heart and mind.

And he’ll think twice the next time he’s tempted to go out and rob from others.