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Hero Wrestles Gun from Armed Robber on His Way To Run Marathon: 'I Don't Like Bullies'

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Jean Paul LaPierre sounds like the name of an action hero. And you can’t say he doesn’t live up to the billing.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, LaPierre, 54, is being recognized for his role in stopping an armed robber on a Chicago Transit Authority train on Sunday.

He didn’t have time to stick around and get the acclaim, however. He had a marathon to run.

That’s right. After he stopped the armed robber on the Blue Line train, the Boston-area man ran in the Chicago Marathon later that same day. You’re halfway surprised he didn’t win it, because that’s the kind of movie-quality stuff this is.

According to the Sun-Times, LaPierre had caught the train a little before 6 a.m. on Sunday when he heard there was a robber afoot among the cars. The alleged burglar was going through the train and taking people’s money by displaying his handgun.

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“I don’t like people that strike fear in people like that,” LaPierre told the Sun-Times. “I don’t like bullies.”

“He was very quietly robbing people,” LaPierre added.

“I went up front and said to him, give me the gun and we started fighting for the gun.”

It didn’t take long for LaPierre to wrestle the weapon from the alleged robber.

This is what people on the CTA train saw:

WARNING: The following video contains mild violence that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

“Once I got a few feet from him I knew he wasn’t going to be able to react fast enough to shoot me,” LaPierre said.

“I was going nuts,” he added. “When I see someone pull a gun it makes me angry, it makes me really, really angry.”

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Do you think Jean Paul LaPierre is a hero?

He was apparently angry enough to get the gun away from the robber and hold him with his left hand while the gun was in LaPierre’s right hand.

“The man in front of me said he could put the safety on, so I handed him the gun and he put the safety on and walked it out of the train,” LaPierre said. “At this point, I was alone on the train with this guy and I had no more weapon.”

“I kept telling him if you move I’m going to knock you out. I’m going to hit you seven times in three seconds.”

A longer version of the video, obtained by WCVB, reportedly shows LaPierre saying, “I’m a boxer. I’ll break your head in one punch.”

The man apparently “calmed down and waited for the police” after this sort of talk, LaPierre said.

The suspect, 30-year-old Tremaine Anderson, was arrested and faces charges of unauthorized use of a weapon.

He has a long history with police, which somehow didn’t stop him from getting a gun even though Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. But I digress.

And then, after that, Jean Paul LaPierre ran a marathon.

Because why not? Not only that, he ran as a “bandit,” someone who runs marathons without always registering. This was apparently his 12th Chicago Marathon.

If this were the end of the story, it would already be pretty awesome. But it isn’t, because this is a guy named Jean Paul LaPierre and of course it isn’t.

According to the Sun-Times, he also has a prior history of being a Good Samaritan: “He said he helped rescue a boy from a vehicle crash in Boston a few years ago, and tracked down a missing python in Newton, Massachusetts,” the Sun-Times reported.

Yes — a missing python. I mean, this is allegedly, but still, isn’t finding a missing python totally this guy’s MO?

“I’ve been involved in a lot of things,” LaPierre said. “I just seem to be at the right place at the right time, is what people tell me.”

You’ve got that right. Our hats are off to you, Mr. LaPierre.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal for four years.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal for four years. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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