Former bull rider Ervin Brittnacher, 79, talks to a reporter about knocking out a 38-year-old home intruder with his bare hands.
Don't mess with Texas.
A 79-year-old former bull rider knocked out a home intruder apparently high on bath salts with his bare hands, League City police Sgt. Tamara Spencer told ABC News.
More from GlobalPost: OMG! First use of abbreviation discovered (VIDEO)
A member of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Ervin Brittnacher woke up early Monday to noises outside his home and found a man with a rifle standing in his front door, asking for his girlfriend.
“I figured there’s a whole lot of ways I can do this. And I don’t want to shoot him,” Brittnacher told KHOU of the night Brian Smith, 38, is accused of storming into his home.
More from GlobalPost: Socialism, capitalism top this year's list of most-looked up words
Rather than panic, Brittnacher throat punched Smith and gave him a karate chop to the side of the neck, knocking Smith out cold.
“He was so calm,” Spencer told the New York Daily News. “He said to me, ‘You know, I used to own a nightclub, and I know it’s not a good idea to talk to a man with a gun, so I just took it from him.”
Smith is charged with attempted burglary and remains in jail on a $40,000 bond, according to The Associated Press.
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. If you’ve been thinking about making a donation, this is the best time to do it. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. All donations between now and June 30 will be matched 2:1. Will you help keep our newsroom on strong footing by giving to The World?