CITY BROKER TELLS HOW HE FOUGHT MASKED MOTORCYCLE THIEVES WITH MARTIAL ARTS WEAPON
A CITY broker used nunchucks to fight off two masked men as they tried to steal his motorbike.
Dino Bergonzi, 47, ran outside his house with the martial arts weapon to confront the men after he saw them trying to steal his Vespa Piaggio MP3 from his driveway.
However, one thief grabbed the nunchucks off Mr Bergonzi, a father of one, and lashed out. The men wrestled before neighbours came to help and the thieves, wearing balaclavas, motorbike leathers and crash helmets, fled.
The attempted robbery was captured on CCTV, which Mr Bergonzi, who lives near Streatham Common, installed after his son’s scooter was stolen by moped-riding thieves weeks earlier.
Mr Bergonzi, who has been studying how to use nunchucks — two short sticks joined by a chain — for three years at West Norwood Health and Leisure Centre, said: “I was in my office when I saw these two guys on a motorbike looking completely wrong.
“I’d had cameras installed after my son’s bike was stolen and I watched them walk across the drive where my car and bike were parked. They were completely brazen.
“I picked up a stick, which folds out into nunchucks, and went outside. One man was behind my motorbike screwing the number plate off.
“He saw me coming and put the screwdriver down and started crying, saying ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’. I realised he was only 14 or 15 years old and I didn’t know what would happen. Then his friend turned up with the bike. I was distracted and he grabbed the nunchucks and he hit me several times. I couldn’t take on them both so I rushed the guy with the nunchucks and he dropped them.”
Two neighbours, one carrying a baseball bat, rushed to help Mr Bergonzi before the men ran off. They returned minutes later to retrieve the motorbike they arrived on, which police later said was also stolen.
Mr Bergonzi urged people to learn their rights and how to defend themselves before trying the same thing. He said: “I would encourage anyone to learn krav maga [an Israeli self-defence art] because it does help in these situations. It shows you how to defend yourself rather than attack others. It is difficult because the law says you must use proportional force, but no one knows what that means. As a law-abiding citizen you are unable to defend yourself because the law is stacked in the criminal’s favour. More so if they are minors because if you do hit one of them, you’ll end up in prison.”
In the incident at 1.30pm on December 10, one suspect was wearing a dark jacket with a red logo on the back, black trousers with a blue line, black trainers with white soles and gloves.
The second was wearing a dark jacket with grey at the top, dark trousers, black trainers with white soles and a helmet with a Nike tick on the back.
Anyone with information should call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.