Luis Rosales, an armed robber got more than he bargained for after being tackled by two cage fighters who just happened to be staying at the hotel he was trying to hold-up.
Luis Rosales, 31, definitely made the wrong move when he walked into the Comfort Inn hotel in LA’s Koreatown, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded he fill a bag full of cash.
After handing over money from the till, the clerk noticed Luis Rosales place the weapon in the bag along with the cash. He followed him out of the office, grabbed him from behind and screamed for help.
Luckily for the clerk, two of his guests, trained martial arts experts Brent Alvarez, 33, and Billy Denney, 28, had just arrived in town for a tournament in Long Beach and were waiting in the lobby.
As Luis Rosales struggled to break free the two fighters leapt into action with Billy Denney grabbing the robber in a hold while Brent Alvarez seized the gun.
The cage fighters then put the robber on the ground with a leg sweep and held him until police arrived.
Billy Denney told the LA Times: “The manager eye-balled us and immediately started running after this guy saying <<He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, he just robbed me>>.
“He body-locks him and that’s when me and Brent. kind of rushed the guy.”
Brent Alvarez, 33, a former hip-hop club bouncer added: “He wasn’t trying to punch us; he just seemed like someone who had run out of options.
“I think back now and wonder what the hell was I doing? I should have hit him and knocked him out.”
Brent Alvarez, who runs Twisted Web Martial arts studio in Eugene, Oregon, and Billy Denney who is his student, ended up struggling for several minutes with Luis Rosales before the police arrived and brought things under control.
Brent Alvarez claims the suspect kept insisting he was desperate and was only doing it for his daughter.
The Los Angeles Police Departnment have commended the two men for their bravery.
Officer Rosario Herrera of the LAPD said: “When the officers arrived they saw a man on the ground being held by two citizens.
“From there we disarmed him, we got the money.”
Luis Rosales was later taken into custody and charged with armed robbery with bail set at $101,250.
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