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.
Violent robbers approached a Korean Marine Corps vet returning home from a trip to church and Home Depot to tell him his car had supposedly been hit, the victim’s family said. KABC
One of the assailants pepper-sprayed the vet in the face and began attacking him, video shows. KABC
The victim fought back and chased the men off his driveway. KABCThe 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.”
A nearby group of landscapers quickly rushed to the veteran’s aid to chase the men down the street. KABC
The vet’s son (pictured) said the robbers were likely startled to see an older man fight back against them. KABC
The suspects, who are believed to be linked to another attack on an older man in the area, were spotted driving a dark sedan. KABCThe 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.
