Football Star Fights Off Man With Baseball Bat During Attempted Robbery In Horrifying Footage
Published
Shocking CCTV footage has shown the moment Arsenal football star Gabriel successfully fought off a pair of robbers who followed him home and attempted to steal his car.
The Brazilian defender was reportedly followed to his house in London after a night out, and was confronted in the garage by the assailants, one of whom threatened him with a baseball bat.
In the CCTV footage filmed by a security camera in the garage, the would-be robbers can be seen demanding Gabriel’s car keys, phone and watch.
One of the men, named in court as Abderaham Muse, rushes at the player, who stands his ground and strikes him in the face. Gabriel continues to fight Muse, wrestling him the the ground and pulling off his hat, before the assailant escapes and the two men run off.
Muse, 26, was found guilty of the attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon and jailed for five years after police identified him by DNA found on the hat. The Evening Standard reports that his accomplice and a third man who made sure the property’s electric gates remained open for them to escape have not yet been identified.
‘No injuries were suffered but a great deal of shock was caused,’ prosecutor Martin Lewis told Harrow Crown Court. ‘They happened to pick on two victims who were very fit and able to look after themselves.’
Judge Anupama Thompson said there was no evidence that the gang members knew they were targeting a Premier League star, but in passing down Muse’s sentence said, ‘You saw a nice car and a nice house and thought it was rich pickings. Fortunately, thanks to the brave actions of the people you targeted, no further damage was done.’
Speaking following the verdict, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that Gabriel had ‘showed a lot of character’ and was receiving support from the club to ‘move on from the situation’.
Incredibly, it’s not the first time an Arsenal defender has managed to fend off a would-be car thief, with Gabriel’s teammate Sead Kolasinac managing to chase away a pair of knife-wielding carjackers who attempted to steal former Arsenal star Mesut Özil’s Mercedes G-Wagon in broad daylight in 2019.
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Topics: Sport
