When a man got home one night, he found that when he opened his front door, he was met by an intruder who was in the process of stealing expensive electronics and jewelry from his house. The angry homeowner didn’t run away or call the police. Instead, he “went Mike Tyson on him.”
When Sal Mercado got home one night in Oak Park, California, there was a strange car with a driver parked in front of his house. Mercado, who lives in California, was confused by both the car and the person inside. He went to the front door as if what had happened was just a random event. But as soon as he walked through the door, he knew why the car he didn’t recognize was waiting outside.
After Mercado found out that someone had broken into his house, the person was already there. He instinctively punched the burglar several times before the criminal ran to the front yard.
He starts to go through the side of me to get out of the house, but I went BAM with the right cross, and he went down onto the grass of the front yard, picked himself up and ran to the car,
recalled Mercado.
The suspect was involved in a type of crime called “crime tourism,” in which people from other countries cross state or international borders to commit crimes before going back to their home countries.
The thought was, ‘I got this guy. I’m going to catch him. I want to make sure he gets prosecuted. I want to make sure I hold him down until the cops get here, because our government is not doing enough to fight crime,’
said Sal Mercado.
My mentality was, ‘Don’t let this guy escape.’
Unfortunately, the first man was able to get away and get into the waiting car. Then, Mercado ran into another thief who was also in the area. The man ran down the stairs with his arms full of jewelry and electronics. Again, Mercado did what he knew to be the smartest and most effective thing to do.
He came at me … I didn’t know if he had weapons before anything could happen,
said the homeowner.
I just went BAM with the right, BAM with the left … I went Mike Tyson on him. He stumbled then he fell on the grass coming out of the house.
Mercado didn’t want to let another criminal get away without paying for what they did. This time, he went after the thief with force, throwing him to the ground and holding him there while yelling at his neighbors to call the police.
I tackled him and shoved him into the bushes on the side of my house again,
said, Mercado.
The way I tackled him … grabbing his arms, pulling them back, pin them on the back, and then put my full weight on his head, but he was all bloody and my whole arms were bloody.
Alexis Provoste Aranguiz, who is 43 years old and came from Chile, was found to be the burglar. KTLA said that he was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for multiple facial fractures before being charged with conspiracy and first-degree residential burglary.
I just didn’t give him a chance, just hit him, because first of all, I don’t know if he has a gun, a knife, any kind of weapon, right? You just don’t know. Your mind goes crazy,
Mercado said.
The police said that the thieves often apply for visas online and then fly into LAX to break into people’s homes.
They’ll typically case neighborhoods in advance and see ways they can get in and out,
said Deputy Ashley Barrios.
Mercado is glad that he was only able to catch one of the three thieves, even though he is disappointed that he wasn’t able to catch the other two. When asked if he would still answer the same way if he knew what he knew now, he said,
I’d do it again.
Sal Mercado did everything he could to keep himself and his belongings as safe as possible. Unfortunately, he has good reason to be worried about the legal system. Many times, criminals like the ones he is talking about have gotten away without being punished in situations very similar to the one he is describing.
Even though the other criminals got away, they won’t be going back to Mercado’s house any time soon. It was likely that just one time with his “Mike Tyson” answer would be enough to stop them for good.
