A karate world champion doled out some instant karma after two ‘wannabe thieves’ woke him up in the middle of the night.
Dave Treadwell, 45, was woken up by his wife Kelly, 47, at around 3am on Tuesday, when their Ring Doorbell alert went off and she spotted someone lurking outside their home.
Mr Treadwell, a 6th Dan black belt and current World and European Champion leapt into action, chasing two shady-looking men down the road in Bishopston, Warwickshire.
He then tackled one to the ground and restrained him while waiting for police to arrive.
The father-of-two said: ‘The Ring Doorbell camera alert went off again at around 3am and when Kelly looked out the window she saw someone outside.
‘She woke me and told me what she’d seen and I just jumped up and legged it after them while she called police.
‘You can see me on the camera sprinting out the house after them.
‘I couldn’t see them because they’d shot down an alleyway so I followed and shouted at them.
‘I saw them both hiding in someone’s garden.
Dave Treadwell, 45, is a 6th Dan black belt and current World and European Champion
At around 3am on Tuesday, the Treadwell’s Ring Doorbell alert went off and Kelly Treadwell spotted someone lurking outside the home
Mr Treadwell jumped out of bed, sprinted after two ‘wannabe thieves’ and threw one to the ground, restraining him with a martial arts arm-lock technique
‘I was still shouting that I wasn’t going anywhere so they might as well give themselves up.
‘They then ran out of a bush and I chased them again until I caught one of them.’
Mr Treadwell restrained one of the men until the police arrived.
Despite officers saying there was not enough evidence to arrest him, he was detained when they discovered a warrant was out for an unrelated offence.
He added: ‘I was just trying to get the guy on the floor and restrain him.
‘I used arm lock techniques to get his face away from me and his hands away from his pockets.
‘I obviously know what I’m doing and I did what I had to do. He was like, “listen, you’re holding me too tight” so I loosened my grip but he got free.
‘He ran off again but I caught up with him pretty quickly and got him on the ground again.
Despite officers saying there was not enough evidence to arrest one of the ‘wannabe thieves’, he was detained when they discovered a warrant was out for an unrelated offence
Mr Treadwell has urged other homeowners to not mimic his actions, explaining that is was his ‘natural instinct’ to go after the men
‘When the police officers arrived they congratulated me on taking action.
‘Unfortunately the man was pleading his innocence and the police officers said there was no proof there was an intention to commit a crime.
‘Luckily when officers checked his name on their records it showed he was wanted for another offence so he was arrested anyway which was good.’
Mr Treadwell, who runs a karate club said the family had been targeted by would-be-thieves twice in a week.
He said: ‘The first incident happened last Thursday when Kelly heard the camera go in the night.
‘She looked out the window and saw two men outside.
‘One of them was parked in a car and the other was on the driveway with some type of equipment to break into the car.
‘They ran off because I think they were startled by the lights coming on in the house.’
Mr Treadwell leapt into action, chasing two shady-looking men down the road in Bishopston, Warwickshire
Mr Treadwell, who runs a karate club said the family had been targeted by would-be-thieves twice in a week
Mr Treadwell has urged other homeowners to not mimic his actions, explaining that is was his ‘natural instinct’ to go after the men.
‘The first thing I teach to all my students is, if somebody’s got a weapon, you turn and run,’ he added.
A Warwickshire Police spokesperson said: ‘We received a call at 3.24am on Tuesday in relation to an attempted car theft.
‘A man was initially arrested for an unrelated matter.’
