SAN DIEGO — A suspected burglar targeted the wrong family in San Diego.
Sergio Hernandez Jr. and his dad, Sergio Hernandez Sr., had just returned to their home on 40th Street in the City Heights neighborhood on Monday morning when the younger Hernandez noticed a stranger standing in the backyard near his dad's window.
Initially, the unknown man tried to say he was running away from a dog, but Hernandez Jr. noticed the window to his dad's bedroom had been removed. When he started questioning the man, he took off running -- with Hernandez Jr. right behind him.
"I see my son coming on the sidewalk holding this guy," said Hernandez Sr.
When the suspected burglar realized they were calling police, he tried to get away. That's when Hernandez Jr., a professional mixed martial arts fighter, put his skills to use, putting the man in a "triangle choke."
"You see this triangle shape here and you have his head and his arm in there and basically, all I have to do is cut off blood circulation in head and he'll pass out," said Hernandez Jr.
He didn't make the man pass out, but Hernandez Jr. held him down until police arrived.
"Deep down in my heart, I guess I wanted to break the dude's arm, but I don't get a kick out of hurting people," said Hernandez Jr.
His dad's home was ransacked, but nothing appeared to be taken.
"It's a very weird and bad feeling," said Hernandez Sr.
In spite of those bad feelings, Hernandez Sr., a retired school counselor and boxing coach, wants to try to help the man who broke into his home.
"I would like to invite him to a boxing gym. He's young, there is still time to save him, to guide him in the right direction," Hernandez Sr.
