MMA Fighter Stops Crime, Thwarts Thief In Missouri

An MMA fighter stopped a crime in progress in a Missouri greocery store, the area’s Patch reports.

The MMA fighter who stopped the crime is professional kickboxer and mixed martial arts fighter Jesse Finney, and Finney happened to be in the store in Crestwood when a fellow patron decided to lift some bottles of vodka.

Unluckily for the thief, the MMA fighter stopped the crime, unwilling to allow the theft to occur unchecked on his watch. Finney — who was shopping for chocolate for his wife on December 21 when he thwarted the criminal — stepped in unaware of the crime that proceeded it, after he spotted a female employee of the shop pursuing a fleeing man on foot.

Finney says:

“I didn’t know if he had robbed the place, or if he’d assaulted somebody, I just saw her. He was pushing her off.”

Patch says the MMA fighter’s skills came in handy to stop the crime in progress, reporting:

“Finney grabbed the man by the coat. When he resisted, Finney slammed him to the ground and subdued him in a hold until Crestwood police could arrive, Finney said … As it turns out, the man had stashed several bottles of vodka before attempting to leave the store, Finney said. One of the bottles shoved in the man’s coat arm busted when he hit the ground.”

Finney credits the discipline and judgment he has developed as an MMA fighter for the relative restraint he used when stopping the crime — he says:

“In the martial arts, it teaches you discipline and respect. If I wasn’t disciplined, I probably would have hurt the guy … Instead, I took him down and a bottle broke in his jacket. That’s what we really try to focus on at the gym here in Crestwood … My wife was like, ‘What if he had had a gun?’ but at the end of the day, I just acted on instinct. I’m not going to let a man push a woman. It was pretty amazing, I was able to stop him, and nobody got hurt.”

While the MMA fighter did manage to stop the crime, the store says it does not encourage customer intervention to prevent shoplifting.