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Man with a black belt in jiu-jitsu pins down an alleged thief who attacked a worker in a 7-Eleven in Chicago.Photo by WFLD /YouTube
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Am alleged thief in Chicago picked the wrong 7-Eleven when looking to start a fight.
Christopher Cruz, 30, returned to the store from where he allegedly stole items earlier in the day, according to police, prompting the employee to ask him to leave.
#CHICAGO He assaulted a 711 employee, so I jumped in and took him to the ground and did a gift wrap hold which is taught in the art of Jiu-Jitsu until the police showed up and arrested him. Alhamdulilah aka All thanks to God for keeping me safe and guiding me to learn the art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. *🙏👉Here’s a little back story to the incident, I was getting slurpess for my kids and a lady came in complaining about the individual In this video. I look outside and her friend was driving around wrack less trying to hit him with the car and he was slamming his hand on her car teasing her and saying crazy stuff. I was not sure if they knew each other because she seemed to be on something her self as well. I told her to jump in the car and just leave. She snapped at me for saying that to her. Then she took some windshield fluid and slammed it on my own car in front trying to open it. I got her off. Then I called the cops on both the girls and the guy. I stood back minding my business. Then the guy runs up on me talking crap and then said: are you Russian and tried flexing on me trying to pretend like he was going to swing at me and I took a step back and didn’t engage. Then he walked into 711 messing with the employee as I was standing outside just watching and waiting for the cops, which I called like a few mins back.  Then I saw him swing at the 711 Employee that’s when I jumped in to control him til the cops came. I went live to make sure nothing went on and I had witnesses to have my back. We live in the age of technology why not use it for good. People can learn from this footage that violence is not the answer. Get proper training, like I have and the world can be a better place. I never harmed the guy and wish him the best and hope he changes his life around for the better. Maybe seeing this video might be a wake up call for him. The cops probably would of came in and tased him or pepper sprayed him to arrest him. What if he would of hurt the employee really bad and then been locked up for a long time. Someone else might of killed him and he wouldn’t be there for his kids. He could of got hit by a car the way he was acting. I really wish him the best and maybe we can grab some food in the future. This is another reason why people shouldn’t drink Alcohol or take drugs. I don’t drink because of my faith I am a Muslim and that’s why I was so calm because my faith and my 20 plus years of teaching and training Jiu-Jitsu. It was not easy for me to leave because they were driving wrack-less and almost hit my car a couple of times. To much to say.  #Alhamdulillah #usa #bjj #jiujitsu #redzovic #redzovicvideo #crime #bosna #bosnian
“Once I saw him actually connect and hit the employee in his head, I jumped in, grabbed him, put him down, flattened him like a pancake and then I tied him up like a pretzel in a position called ‘Gift Wrap’ or ‘Twisting Arm Control,’” Idriz Redzovic told the outlet.
Redzovic, who owns a jiu-jitsu academy in the city’s Lincoln Park neighbourhood, had just bought drinks for his kids when he first noticed Cruz harassing patrons outside the store.
Redzovic said once he saw the alleged thief hit the employee, he went back in.
The black belt recorded parts of last month’s incident on Facebook Live. Footage shows him pinning down the suspect for nearly 20 minutes until cops arrived.
Cruz can be heard begging Redzovic to release him, but that didn’t happen.
“No, I’m not letting you go,” Redzovic says in the video. “You were harassing those girls, and then you swung at that 7-Eleven employee.”
Cruz was charged with two misdemeanor counts of retail theft and battery.
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Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.