HOUSTON – Score one for the good guys.
A South Houston convenience store clerk turned the tables on a pair of accused robbers on July 10 on South Wayside near Interstate 45.
Mayura Dissanyake works at a Fuel Depot, but he's also a semi-professional mixed martial arts fighter.
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He was behind the counter when he noticed his co-worker returning to the store after a run to the bank.
Dissanyake saw two men jump out of an SUV and attack his co-worker. They were trying to grab the bank bag he was carrying.
The store's surveillance cameras were recording as Dissanayake ran outside and kicked one of the alleged robbers in the face.
"The first guy I saw, I just kicked him in the face," he said. "Then I punched the other guy."
They were moves he learned from cage matches. Dissanyake has been involved with mixed martial arts for more than a decade. He said he was the national champion for five consecutive years in his native Sri Lanka.
"We learn how to punch, how to kick and all that stuff you can use in the streets," Dissanayake said.
In the video, you see the accused crooks begin their retreat and the getaway car getting further away. As they ran, Dissanayake threw a punch that knocked one of the men to the ground. His friends and accomplices left him there.
"I just kicked him until he lays down on the floor, until he stopped moving, cause I wasn't sure if he had a knife or a gun, so I wanted him to stop moving," he said.
Police arrested the man who was identified as 33-year-old Odell Mathis. He has been charged with robbery with bodily injury. His partner and the driver got away, but customers of the Fuel Depot still call this a feel-good story.