A mixed martial artist made headlines after getting involved in an arrest in Indiana. He took down a wanted man who was attacking a police officer.
William Cassoday, a 39-year-old mixed martial artist, was driving a car to visit his mother along with his wife. The couple saw a police officer struggling to arrest a man on the side of the road. Cassoday also claimed he saw the man swinging some punches at the police officer.
“As I was passing, I see the guy swinging at the cop.” Cassoday said according to Lake Geneva Regional News.
Cassoday, who has a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, decided to help the officer restrain the wanted man. After pulling over, he approached the two and immediately put the resisting man in a rear-naked choke.
“He just kind of went limp for a moment.” Cassoday said.
He added, “He couldn’t do anything because I was squeezing on his neck and then he kinda felt like he went limp for a second and so I loosen[ed] it up.”
William Cassoday kept the wanted man in position until officer Jamison Smith successfully handcuffed the man. The resisting man was later confirmed to be Christoper Delgado, a 37-year-old Chilean who was wanted for auto theft in Indiana.
Later on the officer explained that Delgado was pretending to be someone else while he confronted him. He was then being aggressive when Smith said he would take Delgado into custody. Delgado refused to come along and threw some punches at the officer’s head, and that was the time when Cassoday stepped in.
Porter County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Benjamin McFalls expressed his gratitude towards William Casoday for his brave action.
“Mr. Cassoday willingly jumped into a fight in which our officer was being violently attacked. Mr. Cassoday exemplified what it means to be a resident of Porter County. We will be honoring him in the near future.” McFalls said.
He added, “Putting his own safety aside, he ran into harm’s way, assisting Officer Smith in taking a felon into custody.”