Lending a Well-Trained Hand

A martial artist who has a troubled history with cops stops to save one

- Eric Raskin

WHEN MARK ANTHONY Gonzales saw a police officer in need of assistance, every element of the moral code instilled in him through his Brazilian jiu-jitsu training—morality, courage, benevolence—told him to stop his car and lend a hand. Even though he was out on bond following an arrest three months earlier for possession of a firearm, a charge that he had disputed and that would later be dropped. Even though he was on his way to work and had his wife, Rachel Ortiz, his four kids, ages 6 and under, and three other extended family members in the car. He saw an officer struggling with a suspect and knew what he had to do.

As Gonzales was driving to open up the martial-arts gym where he trains and volunteers, he saw what looked like a police pursuit. A balding man of medium build, dressed in camouflage shorts, a black T-shirt and work boots, was running from a police officer at an intersection in San Antonio, Texas. Gonzales slowed down. So did the man being chased—to avoid running into Gonzales’s minivan. That hesitation allowed the muscular officer to catch up and take the suspect to the ground.