Woman uses MMA training to fight off child abductor

A woman in Prince George, B.C. used her mixed martial arts training to fight off a man who tried to abduct children at a playground Tuesday.

A Canadian woman used her mixed martial arts training Tuesday to fight off a man who tried to abduct children at a nearby playground.

Chelsi Sabbe, who works at Tiny Treasure Daycare in Prince George, B.C., said she saw a man approach two children Tuesday morning, per Global News.

According to Sabbe, the man, who has since been arrested and identified by police as 35-year-old Kenneth Jim John, grabbed one of the children, a four-year-old boy, and began to run. But Sabbe chased him down, she said, and applied a choke hold until John released the boy.

Shortly thereafter, John picked up the other child, a five-year-old boy.

“I hit him in the throat and knocked his feet out from underneath him,” Sabbe said. “I grabbed the five-year-old and put him up on top of the play centre and I jumped up there.”

John attempted to capture a six-year-old girl from up high on the playground equipment, where Sabbe put six children to protect them, but was unsuccessful.

“He starts throwing punches,” Sabbe, who put John in a head lock, said. “He hits me in the face several times. I then knocked him down again off of the playground equipment.

“He jumps up, he again punches me several times in the head and we go at it. At this time, it kind of turned nasty. I had to grab him by the hair and knee him in the face a few times, and then he ran away.”

Sabbe said she has trained mixed martial arts but still never expected to be able to fight off a grown man.

“I never expected myself to be able to take down a grown man, and unfortunately you have to get quite physical to do so,” she said. “He was very persistent and it had to get violent. I had no choice but to hurt him and get him on the ground. There was no way I was letting him get away with one of the children.”

A woman in Prince George, B.C. used her mixed martial arts training to fight off a man who tried to abduct children at a playground Tuesday.

A Canadian woman used her mixed martial arts training Tuesday to fight off a man who tried to abduct children at a nearby playground.

Chelsi Sabbe, who works at Tiny Treasure Daycare in Prince George, B.C., said she saw a man approach two children Tuesday morning, per Global News.

According to Sabbe, the man, who has since been arrested and identified by police as 35-year-old Kenneth Jim John, grabbed one of the children, a four-year-old boy, and began to run. But Sabbe chased him down, she said, and applied a choke hold until John released the boy.

Shortly thereafter, John picked up the other child, a five-year-old boy.

“I hit him in the throat and knocked his feet out from underneath him,” Sabbe said. “I grabbed the five-year-old and put him up on top of the play centre and I jumped up there.”

John attempted to capture a six-year-old girl from up high on the playground equipment, where Sabbe put six children to protect them, but was unsuccessful.

“He starts throwing punches,” Sabbe, who put John in a head lock, said. “He hits me in the face several times. I then knocked him down again off of the playground equipment.

“He jumps up, he again punches me several times in the head and we go at it. At this time, it kind of turned nasty. I had to grab him by the hair and knee him in the face a few times, and then he ran away.”

Sabbe said she has trained mixed martial arts but still never expected to be able to fight off a grown man.

“I never expected myself to be able to take down a grown man, and unfortunately you have to get quite physical to do so,” she said. “He was very persistent and it had to get violent. I had no choice but to hurt him and get him on the ground. There was no way I was letting him get away with one of the children.”