Who Said Ordinary Mexican. Citizens are Afraid to Fight Back Against Criminals

Ciudad Victoria resident Lorena Rubí García Illoldi was in Tampico visiting family in the city and had gone to the market  Saturday afternoon to eat a piece of cake when she heard two people — a 30-year-old woman and her mother — pleading for help after two men had stolen their purses and phones.

García’s gut reaction was to act, and the first thing she did was to run and stop the thief and when he tried to escape she immobilized him with a wrestling  hold -a full nelson.  Other onlookers apprehended the second thief and both, identified only as Luis, 28 and Carlos, 47, were turned over to the State Police. 

In an interview with the newspaper  El Universal when asked if she was worried about exposing herself to risk by what she did, she replied “I didn’t have time to think about it”. She told interviewer that when she was younger she had been a member of the state and national judo team and had won a national championship.  She told the interviewer she had a black belt in Judo. 

Her daughter snapped photos of the incident.and posted them on Facebook the next day.    The story and photos went viral on the internet and Garcia quickly became famous. 

She said she was surprised by the reaction and that the last thing she was after was public attention. “I did not want publicity or anything like this.”  She was referring to all the comments on her Face Book page after her daughter posted the photo. 

“What I am is satisfied with is doing the right thing as a citizen.  I was not abusive, I used only the force necessary. Violence should be the last resort”

García is a literature and theater professor at the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (UAT), and is a writer, poet and actress. Besides judo, she has practiced lucha libre, a Mexican form of professional wrestling.

The victims were a 30-year-old woman and her mother are from Monterrey and it was their first visit to Tampico.  The incident took place in a very busy pedestrian street near the Plaza de Armas of Tampico.

At the end of the interview with El Universal , the literature teacher said: “I did not think to be heroin, I just want people to know that there are good people in Tampico”.