Jiu-jitsu purple belt eating lunch at Taco Bell takes down thief who tries to rob him

By Rachel Bowman and Mallika Singh For Dailymail.Com 17:28 03 Jul 2024, updated 12:26 04 Jul 2024

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Shocking video captured the moment a jiu-jitsu-practicing lawyer fought off a thief who tried to swipe his phone while he ate lunch at a Taco Bell in New York.

Kyle, 28, was enjoying a cheese quesadilla on a sunny Tuesday at the Taco Bell on Junction Blvd in Queens when the poacher attempted to steal his phone.

Unbeknownst to the crook, the lawyer had a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and fended off the attack.

Security camera footage showed Kyle immediately put the thief in a headlock and pushed him to the ground when he attempted to grab his phone.

'He wanted my phone. He had come up behind me and was asking me for money or something. I told him no and then he came back and lunged for my phone,' Kyle said in a Reddit post.

'He actually took a screenshot so I have the exact time it happened.'

Kyle was eating at a counter seat next to the door when the sneak tried to grab the man's phone with one hand and another on the door handle to make a quick exit.

The 28-year-old kept a tight grip and scooted out of his chair as he fought off the attacker.

He quickly wrapped his arm around the thief, pushed him to the ground, and grabbed his cell phone off the floor.

The attacker jumped off the ground while Kyle watched him leave restaurant with bated breath waiting to see if he would continue to fight.

'He was saying "I’m good, I’m good." I figured that he just wanted my phone and wasn’t willing to fight anymore so I let him go,' Kyle said.

'The cops never came so if I held him there then I’d probably still be there.

'I’m a purple belt, I started in January 2018. What was going through my mind was probably thinking "oh s**t, I need to take this guy down," and then realizing I could have been stabbed.'

New York City Police crime data shows robbery, felony assault and both petit and grand larceny have increased in the precinct the Taco Bell is located in.

Robbery has soared 42.2 percent year to date, felony assault is up 30.2 percent, grand larceny has risen 6.7 percent and petit larceny increased 10.8 percent in the 115th precinct.