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New Mexico high school wrestler thwarts alleged attempted kidnapping, assault at gas station

A New Mexico high school wrestler sprung into action at a local gas station this week and helped stop an alleged kidnapping and assault by pinning the alleged attacker to the ground, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Canaan Bower, a 16-year-old who won a heavyweight division district championship last month, is credited with taking down 22-year-old Daniel Arroyo Beltran at a gas station in Dona Ana, New Mexico on Wednesday. Arroyo was arrested and charged with four counts of battery, two counts of assault, two counts of child abuse and one count of kidnapping.

According to the report, a woman hopped off a Greyhound bus at Chucky’s Gas Stadium around 9 a.m. on Wednesday with her three young children and was waiting for an Uber to arrive. Arroyo then allegedly approached her, grabbed her 2-year-old’s arm and demanded that she give him her children.

The woman kicked Arroyo, per the report, and then he allegedly punched her in the head, knocking her down on top of her 1-year-old son who was riding in a carrier on her back.

The woman then fled into the store while bystanders attempted to slow Arroyo down, however he fought his way into the store. By then, she had locked herself into an employees-only door.

Canaan was across the street filling up his truck with gas at a different gas station while this was going on, and quickly noticed the commotion.

“Punches were being thrown and [he could hear] screams of terror, so he jumped in his truck and went across the street,” Canaan’s dad, Troy, said, via the Las Cruces Sun-News. “By the time he got there, they had gone inside and so he got out of his truck and went inside — and there was a whole bunch of blood all over the floor.”

That’s when Canaan made his move.

“My son — who just won the wrestling district championship weeks ago — just came up behind this guy and body-slammed him and got him in a chokehold and waited for the police to show up,” Troy said, via the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Canaan, who attends Mayfield High School, took down Tyrell Rickman in the district heavyweight championships in February, per the Las Cruces Sun-News, picking up his school’s only title and earning a spot in the state tournament.

While Troy was very proud of the way his son reacted, he was also extremely upset.

“I wanted to wring his neck,” Troy said, via the Las Cruces Sun-News. “You fear for your own child's safety in that situation. You don't know if this guy's maybe got a gun or a knife — you don't know what this guy's capable of. I'm sure other people saw what was going on and didn't get involved. It's very terrifying that your child put himself at risk but, at the same time, confident that he would do the right thing and succeed in doing it.”

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