Whatever you do, don’t mess with Lorenza Marrujo.
One burglar learned that the hard way when he attempted to break into her Fontana, California apartment in a senior housing complex in September of 2020.
The 67-year-old woman might be less than 5 feet tall, but she’s mighty!
The man managed to get into her home, but she stood her ground.
“As he was coming towards me, I said back off – right away,” Marrujo told the local WCSC News.
And he did.
But unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of his crime spree. Instead, he just moved on to another apartment in the same building.
The suspect then entered the apartment of Marrujo’s friend, 87-year-old Elizabeth McCray.
“He grabbed me and shake me, and I went down on the floor,” McCray said.
Marrujo heard her scream and knew she was going to need to dole out a butt-kicking.
So she made her way over to McCray’s apartment with a baseball bat, but first called 911.
It’s important to note that while Marrujo’s scrappiness makes for a great story, it’s never a good idea to get involved in a violent incident, and calling 911 is what police recommend.
But Marrujo wasn’t about to wait – and McCray was shocked to see her come in.
“I didn’t expect that little lady would be that brave. I was trembling. I grabbed her by the leg. I said, ‘Be careful. You’re gonna kill us.’ She said, ‘Not tonight,’” McCray said.
Marrujo then delivered a whooping to the intruder.
“I squeezed myself between her and him. I put Mama on the side, and I jumped on him. I was punching him and everything, and I had the cane against his throat,” Marrujo said.
She has 26 years of martial arts training under her belt. And that belt is a jujitsu black belt.
The man fought back but she wasn’t intimidated. In fact, she switched positions to hold him down in a way that she said she knew wouldn’t kill him!
But not before she bent back his fingers, elbowed him twice in the sternum, and then told him off.
“He lifted up and tried to twist my hand. At the same time, I twisted his and turned it around real fast. He was saying, ‘You’re hurting me.’ And I said, ‘I don’t care. I don’t care what happens to you. You had no right to hurt an elderly person,’” Marrujo said.
When police arrived, they were able to arrest the intruder, 59-year-old Donald Robert Prestwood. He’s been charged with felony elder abuse.
McCray was taken to the hospital but released the next day.
Marrujo seems to have just gone home after talking to the police.
While they appeared to appreciate her moxie, they reminded citizens that not everyone is so…well, badass.
“We recommend that you dial 911 for emergency assistance, which, in this case, she did that and also jumped in,” said police spokesperson Jennie Venzor. “What she told me is that her training kicked in, and it was like a muscle memory. She knew she had to help her friend out.”
Eye of the Tiger
The 4’11” 100-pound woman says she plans to freshen up her martial arts skills.
“I’m getting rusty in places,” she explained.
Back in the day she studied criminal justice and trained in martial arts with the hope of becoming a crime scene investigator, according to the SB Sun. But life took a turn and she ended up battling homelessness throughout her life.
The jujitsu would come in handy in a very different way.
She also told the paper that back in her younger days she would train to the song “Eye of the Tiger.” No word on whether the song was running through her head as she placed a knee on Prestwood’s chest and one on his neck then scrunched his mouth with her hand until police arrived.
“I needed it in case I had a close encounter of the bad kind,” Marrujo said of her skills. “I prefer to be called Lady Ninja.”
Noted.
Be sure to scroll down below to see her interview after the incident.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
