A family from Katy, in Texas, United States, have been hailed as heroes after intervening to stop an attempted sexual assault at a neighboring business. The An familyall with fourth degree black belts in taekwondo, he did not hesitate to use his martial arts skills to protect a young girl from an attacker who was abusing her.
The incident occurred around 4 in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 18 at a location near the Yong-in Taekwondo dojowhere the whole family works. Simon Anone of the sons and a taekwondo instructor at the academy, said that They were getting ready for night classes when they heard screams. coming from a neighboring business.
Initially they thought the shouting was part of a prank between employees, but they soon realized the seriousness of the situation. A heartbreaking “final cry” prompted the An family to act quicklyAccording to Simon, he told NBCNews.
“We heard the second scream, which was a scream of terror”he recalled. The family rushed to the neighboring store, broke down the locked door and Inside the room they found a man on top of a young employee, who was desperately trying to defend herself.
The father of the family, Hong An, He used his taekwondo skills to pin the attacker to the ground. Hannah Anthe older sister, grabbed the young woman and took her to a safe place, while Simon and his younger brother helped restrain the attacker.
“It was all self defense. The intruder was trying to escape, scratching, biting, anything he could do.”clarified Simon, to demonstrate that there was no violence, but rather taekwondo technique.
During the ten minutes it took for the authorities to arrive, the attacker, identified as Alex Robinson, tried to attack the Simons’ father. “My dad just grabbed his shirt and twisted it so he wouldn’t move,” Simon said again.
The An family’s quick action and martial arts training were crucial in stopping the assault. The Harris County Sheriff’s Department in Texas arrested Robinson.
The sheriff Ed Gonzalez praised the family’s bravery in a thread of four posts on the social network x. There he acknowledged that: “By using their training and discipline, they managed to stop the assault and restrain the attacker”.
Robinson faces charges of attempted sexual assault and false imprisonment, according to authorities. Furthermore, he was also accused of assaulting Han An during the incident. “Thank you to the Yong-In dojo for his quick action to protect others,” the sheriff wrote.
Despite the uproar and public recognition, the An family said they do not consider themselves heroes. “Not necessarily heroes. We just did the right thing. A man was on top of a girl, trying to attack her. I mean, what is the right thing to do? Get him out and keep him there until they arrest him,” Simon told ABC 13.
The An family has never had to use their skills outside of the taekwondo studio, although they have been training for years. “I still can not believe it“Simon admitted in reference to the incident.
