Stockton Man Fights Off Attempted Carjacking
STOCKTON (CBS13) — Scared for his life, a Stockton man was told to get out of his car. But he refused to give up or give in.
Bruce Rivera had to make a quick stop and the store and before he could get out of his car, he was face-to-face with a bad guy with a gun.
"I wish I could just forget it," Rivera said. "It was scary."
With a gun pointed at him, he had to think fast. The criminal wanted his car, and Rivera wasn't going to give up easily.
"'Get the hell out of the car, you're getting jacked,' that's what he said," the near-carjacking victim said.
But Rivera tried to plead with him.
"He sat down and started my car, and I told him, 'Dude just don't take my car, 'cause I got kids.'"
Rivera didn't know what was going to happen next, so he made the decision to fight for his car, and his life.
"My horn kept going off, he was just pushing me. We're just fighting," he said. "And I'm screaming out, 'Help, help, he has a gun.'"
And on instinct and adrenaline, Rivera went for the gun.
"We're fighting for it—I don't really know what happened—but the minute I felt my feet on the ground again, I pulled away and I took the gun out," he said. "I pointed it at him, and I told him to get the hell out of my car, now."
Despite the gun in Rivera's hand, the bad guy kept trying to steal his car. And that's when this father and husband put the would-be carjacker into a headlock and hit him over the head with the gun.
With Rivera holding the upper hand, the criminal went running.
"Nothing happened to me, except these little scratches and bruises."
He knows he's fortunate and that this fight could have turned out differently. All he thought about were his kids and that's why he fought, but he warns not to follow his example.
"I was just lucky, that's all."
Officers are still looking for the criminal. Rivera says he turned over the gun to police, along with the bad guy's bag, which contained a crowbar and a machete.
