By Alex Rozier -
NBC Los Angeles
A Latino family on Wednesday confronted a driver who was fleeing from the police and broke into his home to steal his truck in Los Angeles, California.
The driver was closely followed by several police cars that were chasing him at full speed from Anaheim.
He got out of the vehicle he stole in Whittier and ran toward the family's home.
Andrés Benítez was inside with his mother when the man ran in and grabbed the keys to the truck.
"Just got back from work after a long day," he said, "I was talking to my mom like I always do when I see the back door open."
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Image of the suspect who stole a vehicle from a Latino family in Los Angeles, California, on November 9, 2022.NBC Los Angeles
Benítez knew that police were looking for a man in his neighborhood who was considered dangerous, he explained, because his brother had just told him on the phone.
"When I see the door open, I know it's that guy because it's not the first time this has happened," he said, "my first reaction is to think that my mother is in the house and say: 'I have to defend her.'"
Benítez looked for something with which to defend himself and his mother, and grabbed the first kitchen knife he saw at hand, he explained.
“I told him, 'Brother, you have to get out of the house because if you don't, I'm going to have to stab you right now,'” Benítez said, adding: “He raised his hands and started begging me.”
The man asked him to let him go, and he replied that he just wanted him to leave his house.
But the suspect grabbed the truck keys that were on the kitchen table and ran.
Benítez's mother asked her son to let him get away to prevent anyone from getting hurt, he said, but he had been saving for a while to buy the vehicle, he told NBC News in Los Angeles.
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"When I see him grab the keys, I think there's no way I'm going to let him go," recalls Benitez, "when I see him start the truck, my heart breaks."
When he tried to stop his son, his mother was injured.
The chase ended after the driver collided with several cars parked outside and was hit by police cars in Hacienda Heights.
The man tries to flee by accelerating in reverse but one of the patrols prevented him and Benitez heard shots, which hit the windows of his house.
No one was injured by the bullets, and the man was eventually arrested.
