Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A former high school wrestler who made the moves of his life in a confrontation last month recently is being hailed as a hero, but he knows who really deserves praise.
In March, Gabriel Pitzulo intervened at an Indianapolis Subway when a clerk was being harassed.
“All glory to God, man,” Pitzulo said, according to WRTV-TV in Indianapolis.
“He’s always protected me and put me in situations He knows He can notice that I can handle. I don’t feel like a hero, but I’m glad I did,” he said.
INDIANAPOLIS
On March 22, Gabriel Pitzulo walked into the Subway on E. Hanna Ave. on Indianapolis’s south side for his usual lunch break. Upon his arrival, he saw Daniel Saunders verbally and physically assaulting a Subway employee.
“I had walked in and he was visibly… pic.twitter.com/pOaRvLH1GM
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) April 2, 2024
It was March 22 when Pitzulo entered the Subway shop near where he works. He saw the clerk behind the counter being spit at and having objects thrown at her.
“I had walked in, and he was visibly assaulting, you know, throwing stuff. I believe I saw him spit at her,” Pitzulo said. “How I was raised, you don’t do that stuff. It was kind of go time from there.”
Would you intervene in a similar situation?
As the man went to leave, Pitzulo acted, all recorded on video.
“I was afraid that he was either leaving to get something to harm her,” Pitzulo said.
Pitzulo tackled the man and held him for police.
“I did combat sports for quite a while, so I was completely controlling,” said Pitzulo, a former wrestler and football player.
“He [was] trying to bite me, and I didn’t want to punch him or anything. I didn’t want to hurt him too bad. I just held him in place,” he said.
Subway district manager Aara Khan praised Pitzulo.
“It could’ve turned out very dangerous. Luckily he was here at the right time and the right place,” he said.
“You can be a hero anytime, anywhere you go. Right place, right time and that guy is a hero,” he said.
Daniel Saunders was later charged with battery resulting in bodily injury.
Pitzulo said he has been speaking to the media about the incident to help society find its way.
“I haven’t really been turning down interviews because I do want to get this out there for the young men. There’s a lot of talk nowadays of toxic masculinity, and I’m really trying to, you know, push this narrative that you should stand up for the people, innocent people, people in your local neighborhood. And, you know, that’s kind of what I take from it,” he said, according to Fox News.
