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Arsenal star challenged a baseball bat-holding thug

Nuno Tavares
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During the summer, Arsenal defender Gabriel had the experience of his life as an intruder attacked him with a baseball bat.

Arsenal star Gabriel had a confrontation with a baseball-bat holding robber in August, as the CCTV footage has been released capturing his characteristic sense of an approach to the situation.

The Brazilian defender was lured by two masked men at his residence in Barnet, London after a night out. He was also accompanied by his Arsenal colleague Nuno Tavares in his car.

The video footage reveals two men who approached Gabriel in his garage after he got out of his car, with one of them holding a baseball bat. At the first glance, the Gunners centre-back lifted his hands in the air and took off his watch.

However, in a matter of seconds, Gabriel hit the intruder in the face as he tried to beat the Arsenal man with his bat. The 23-year-old Brazilian then tried to pull the attacker, but both thugs rushed away from his house.

The police were successful in identifying the robber who held the baseball bat as his hat fell off during the brawl with Gabriel. As per The Daily Mail, the case prosecutor Martin Lewis released a statement to Harrow Crown Court regarding the Arsenal players.

“No injuries were suffered but a great deal of shock was caused,” said Lewis. “They happened to pick on two victims who were very fit and able to look after themselves.” 

The Gunners boss Mikel Arteta also took time in his press conference to applaud Gabriel’s efforts to stun the thief. The Spaniard said: “Obviously it is not a nice thing to go through when you have family involved. And they are trying to access your house.”

“Gabi showed a lot of character. You see the reaction he had straight away. Credit to the boy and after that he was fine.”

“Obviously he was shocked. And there were a few things he wanted to change in his life to prevent those things from happening. And the club gave him all the support that was needed to forget about the situation. Learn from it and move on.”

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