Quick-thinking mother sets pit bull on thieves attacking family

The dramatic moment a quick-thinking mother from Brazil unleashed her pit bull on thieves who attacked her family was captured on surveillance footage.

A family had just returned to their home in the Penha district of the Brazilian city of São Paulo last week around 8:30 PM when their evening quickly took a terrifying turn.

As the mother approached the gate of her home, she turned around to see two thieves assaulting her husband outside his taxi across the street – while their child was still tied up in the back seat.

The shocking video footage showed her storming into the house as a third thief jumped into the driver’s seat of their car and demanded the keys from the taxi driver who refused to hand them over.

But just as the husband was being grabbed more aggressively by one of the nighttime criminals, the mother appeared with her pit bull at her side and released her stocky pet as soon as she was close enough.

One thief ran to the other side of the car as his accomplice immediately jumped out of the driver’s seat before they both fled onto the road.

The faithful dog was captured chasing one of the thieves who took off in the opposite direction of his crime squad, while the family tended to their crying child who was still tied up in the car.

The thieves were only able to obtain a bag of documents and two mobile phones, but the incident highlighted a bigger problem: increasing burglaries and overall crime in the district, leaving locals fearing for their own safety.

The footage shows the thieves fleeing down the road after being chased by the loyal and stocky pet