Richard Schlesinger was out enjoying his meal at a Hollywood pizzeria, al fresco, when a random man came up to him and punched him.
The attacker proceeded to rob the diner according to sources but Timothy Ratcliff, the owner next door, ran after the man and tackled him to the ground.
Both men wrestled on the busy Hollywood Boulevard with the suspect attempting to break free.
Ratcliff’s girlfriend came out to help him, as she and another woman went ahead to retrieve the stolen items.
It was a sucker punch the suspect thought he could get away with.
Ratcliff had other ideas.
The thief was trying his best to break free, so Ratcliff’s girlfriend stood on his legs and kicked him just to make sure he stayed down.
“Honestly, it was like slow motion. I couldn’t believe it happened right away,” Ratcliff said.
Ratcliff also went on to say that he’s been helping out the suspect for months.
“He’s been coming around the restaurant for about two months now. We’ve been giving him food, we’ve been giving him water. It’s just shocking to have it all happen the way it did,” Ratcliff shared.
That is unreal.
Timothy Ratcliff was also out having a late lunch with his girlfriend when the assault happened.
Schlesinger is an older gentleman and he got thrown off his feet after the punch.
“I saw it in slow-motion when he sucker-punched him,” Ratcliff said. “I just got up. I didn’t think about, and I just started going after him.”
The 64-year-old had just paid his bill, and fell off his chair, landing on the curb of the patio area in front of the restaurant.
Ratcliff remained in contact with Schlesinger after the attack.
Timothy says Richard suffered not just bruises to his face but also two broken ribs from the fall.
The suspect grabbed the victim’s cellphone and wallet from the table.
The assailant made it to the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and North La Brea Avenue.
He took a wild punch at Ratcliff’s face, but the 42-year-old wrapped his hands around the suspect before taking him down.
Ratcliff says he held the suspect down for around 10 minutes before the firefighters and police arrived.
“As I was holding him there, he was trying to bite me a couple of times and, I warned him, don’t bite me,” he said.
Schlesinger meanwhile said it hurts to get in and out of bed and that for the first week and a half or so, couldn’t cough, sneeze or laugh.
The suspect was scheduled to face charges inside a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday but after waiting all day for the court hearing, Ratcliff and Schlesinger were told that the suspect had been “lost” in the Los Angeles jail system.
Schlesinger was disappointed saying it’s not a good look for law enforcement losing track of somebody who’s in their system.
At least he’s made a new friend in Ratcliff.
Check out the security footage in the video below!
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