A martial arts instructor was honored by the San Francisco Police Department today for his role in subduing a man who attacked an officer in the city’s Portola neighborhood last month.
On April 13, Pedro Arrigoni was leaving AB Mixed Martial Arts Academy near the intersection of San Bruno and Paul avenues where he teaches jiu jitsu when he saw the man attacking the officer.
The man had been escorted off a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus by two officers who had been conducting a fare inspection and found the man did not have proof of payment, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.
The man tried to walk away from the officers, and when they pursued him, he turned around and punched one of them, knocking the officer to the ground, Dangerfield said.
Arrigoni saw the attack, approached the man from behind and put him in a choke hold, allowing police to take him into custody.
Arrigoni was honored at the Police Department’s bimonthly CompStat meeting today with a certificate of appreciation from the department and gifts from the local office of the FBI.
Stephanie Douglas, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office, presented Arrigoni with an honorary badge and hat from the agency’s jiu jitsu club.
She told Arrigoni, “Your incredibly selfless act shows who you really are.”
Deputy Chief Kevin Cashman joked that Arrigoni should also be offered an application to join the police force, given his martial arts experience.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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