A Heroic woman took down a mugger with her makeshift martial arts moves.
Sol Vargas Garita had stopped at her regular restaurant for breakfast after finishing a night shift at a shop in the early hours of Wednesday (3 Sept).
As she waited at the counter, a man crept up behind her and grabbed her handbag – but she instantly fought back.
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CCTV from the 24-hour eatery in San Isidro de El General, Costa Rica, shows Sol wrestling the would-be thief to the ground before trapping him in a leg chokehold.
Police later arrived and cuffed the suspect.
Recalling the moment, Sol, 25, told local media: “This guy grabs my bag, and I think, ‘he’s not taking it’. I grabbed him, threw him down, and, honestly, yes – I hit him, made him bleed and everything.
“The cook didn’t really do much, but at least the other girl had the sense to call the police.”
Sol had around 100,000 CRC (£147) in her bag at the time, as reported by NeedToKnow.
“Luckily, I got it back and wasn’t hurt, because I had a lot of money in there,” she said. “I work hard, and no one’s just going to take my things like it’s nothing.”
Amazingly, her takedown was completely instinctive.
“My mum says it was some kind of jiu-jitsu hold or Brazilian technique or whatever,” she laughed. “But like I told her, I don’t know anything about that. It just came out of me.”
She now wants to take up martial arts or self-defence classes in case she ever faces a similar situation again.
After the video went viral, some warned she should have been more cautious in case the crook was armed – but Sol believes he would have shown a weapon from the start if he’d had one.
Restaurant owner Francisco Bermúdez told reporters: “I was speechless – it surprised me as much as everyone else who’s seen the video.”
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