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IHOP Robbery Thwarted by Waiter Who Happens to Be a Frickin’ Third-Degree Black Belt

Last week, three would-be burglars tried looting an IHOP off the highway in San Antonio. Unfortunately for them, Elijah Arnold was waiting tables that morning. The server tells local news station WOAI that “something just didn’t seem right” after the trio walked in. His sixth sense proved correct: Moments later, one of them started prying open the cash register. “I took off full speed at him, and that’s when he saw me,” Arnold explains. Why would someone do such a thing? As Arnold tells it: “I’m a third-degree black belt and have been in martial arts for a very long time, and my instincts took over.”

He managed to “deflect” the man’s incoming crowbar, tackle him, keep him in a submission hold until police arrived, then apparently immediately give the local news a very calm interview recounting what just happened:

“I believe he did get one good shot on my face,” Arnold concedes on camera, his white uniform still covered with blood, “but other than that, I got some pretty good shots on him.” He says the thief begged him for the money, and while he empathizes with the man’s plight, Arnold couldn’t let him have it: “It was my manager’s money in the register. And it was my IHOP’s money in the register. And I’m not going to let anybody take that.” Police arrested the would-be robber that Arnold tackled and are currently looking for the other two.

Meanwhile, Arnold says he’s ready to go back to work. He just needs a new shirt.

IHOP Robbery Thwarted by Waiter Who Is a Frickin’ Black Belt