By Jennifer Rodriguez
The Bradenton Herald
ANTIOCH, Calif. — One person was arrested after police in California say he broke into a church on Thanksgiving and was fought off by a pastor.
In the early morning hours of Thanksgiving, an alarm went off at First Family Church, according to a Facebook post by the Antioch Police Department.
Pastor Nick Neves, who is trained in jiu-jitsu, responded to the alarm, CNN reported. That’s when he discovered a man had broken into the church.
“As I was going into the door, the perpetrator came out with a handful of our goods, and I stopped him, and 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,” Neves told CNN.
However, the man “decided to fight with the pastor instead of repent,” police said.
Neves then held the man down until police arrived, according to the post.
Police said the man used an ax to break a window at the church, and that’s how he entered.
The pastor was not injured during the altercation.
“I don’t have hatred towards him,” he told CNN. “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.”
Antioch is about a 45-mile drive northeast of San Francisco.
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