Incredible moment Good Samaritan tackles brute and puts him in a chokehold after suspect battered and spat at Indiana Subway worker over a sandwich: Hero gets free food for life

A Good Samaritan intervened and tackled a brutal attacker who allegedly punched and spat on an employee at an Indiana Subway restaurant.

Gabriel Pitzulo, 23, managed to keep the alleged attacker on the ground for eight minutes until law enforcement authorities were called to the Subway store in Indianapolis.

The incredible moment was captured on the store’s surveillance camera, which showed the brave former high school wrestler attacking the attacker and successfully knocking him down.

The belligerent customer, later identified as Daniel Saunders, 31, was charged with one count of battery resulting in bodily harm, as reported by WFSB.

The Subway store manager decided to give Pitzulo free sandwiches for life as a token of appreciation for his heroic action on March 22.

Pitzulo was walking into the deli during his lunch break last month when he heard someone yelling loudly inside the store, he said. Fox and friends first.

He said: ‘It was just another normal working day, going where I was going all the time. When I walked in it was quite hectic. People were screaming, it was quite loud.”

The former high school wrestler and football player said he saw Saunders allegedly throw something at a female employee behind the counter.

The brutal attacker is then said to have spat at the employee as a crowd of customers looked on.

‘I heard it from outside. I walked in and he was visibly attacking and throwing stuff. I think I saw him spit at her, and the way I was raised, you don’t do things like that. From then on, it was kind of go-time,” Pitzulo said.

Pitzulo, who now works as a welder, quickly tackled the alleged attacker and pinned him to the ground, as seen on surveillance footage.

The 23-year-old said he wanted to prevent the attacker from hurting the female employee.

“It seemed like there was no way she could defend herself. … She had said he had threatened to kill her. I did martial arts for a while, so I had complete control.

‘I didn’t want to hit him or anything. I didn’t want to hurt him too much. So I just held him,” Pitzulo said.

“It wasn’t cool,” he said, adding that there were “some words back and forth” between him and the suspect, while others called police.

‘The police have arrived there. “I helped put the cuffs on him, and they thanked me and told me what I did was very brave,” he said.

The video of Pitzulo’s heroic intervention has been circulating on social media, and the young man expressed hope that it will inspire others to take action when innocent people are targeted.

‘I haven’t really turned down interviews because I want to bring this to the attention of the young men.

“There’s a lot of talk these days about toxic masculinity, and I’m really trying to emphasize the narrative that you have to stand up for the people, innocent people, people in your local neighborhood. That’s kind of what I get out of it.’

“I encourage everyone to stand up for, you know, to do what’s right. And to help people around you,” he said.

According to police records, Saunders was charged with battery, battery resulting in bodily harm and disorderly conduct – fighting/tumultuous conduct.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for more information.

Aarij Kham, Subway’s Indianapolis district manager, thanked Pitzulo for his courageous actions and detailed what happened in a statement.

He said Saunders had been at the restaurant all week, went to the bathroom and asked for free food.

‘The man in the video was there all week and we let him use the toilet, gave him free food and made sure he was taken care of like we always do.’

“When he came in I was in another store but he asked for more free food and my employee at the time said no because he was drunk.

“He had three to four bottles of Hennessey with him, which I later threw away when the police arrived. He became aggravated when she told him to leave and he threw things at her and attacked her – they were able to take pictures of the mark on her face.

“Gabriel was the only one who came in, took action and did what everyone should do. Gabriel kept him occupied for seven to eight minutes and once the police showed up it took four to five officers to restrain him.

“I told Gabriel that as long as I work here, he can get a free Subway from me or my manager,” Kham said.