Teen uses Jiu Jitsu to take down suspected car thief, who claims it was misunderstanding
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) — On Monday, a teen used his Jiu Jitsu skills to take down a man he suspected of being a car thief.
Video shows Gavin Archer taking down, punching, and choking out a man who appeared to attack him.
The man who got beaten up by Archer, Andrew Wilkerson, refutes his claims and tells I-Team 8 he was just doing his job as a mechanic for the muffler shop next door.
Archer tells I-Team 8 he was alone in the martial art gym punching a heavy bag when he saw Wilkerson rummaging around in his car.
Security camera video from inside the gym shows Archer walk up to the front door. Archer says he confronted Wilkerson about what they were doing.
“I was kind of getting a little nervous, and he just straight up attacked me. It all happened so fast you don’t really have time to think,” Archer said.
Wilkerson admits to I-Team 8 that he was trying to use keys to get into the car in front of the shop because it fit the description of the car next on the list to be worked on.
“I tried that for a couple minutes, and you can see in the video where I begin to walk away back toward my shop,” Wilkerson said.
That’s when Archer came to the door to confront him.
Wilkerson said, “He’s saying things like, ‘Don’t go anywhere. I’m calling the cops.’ I’ve worked there for a few months. I know what the gym does. I know this guy’s a trained fighter, so when he says, ‘Don’t go anywhere,’ like the last thing I want to do now is turn around and not be able to see this guy. Finally, I took a stand, raised my voice a little bit and took a step like, ‘Hey, listen to me.’ He took a step back and pushed the gym door open the rest of the way, which in that situation looked like he was coming toward me next, so I just reacted and went after him.”
Wilkerson claims Archer is the one who escalated the situation.
Archer claims that goes against his martial arts training. “Deescalating the situation is No. 1. Best martial art is running away, but, if you can’t, you just need to have something else.”
The muffler shop next to the gym tell I-Team 8 that, as of Tuesday, Wilkerson no longer works there.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department tells I-Team 8 they created a police report for the incident, but did not arrest anyone.