INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (NewsNation) — A 23-year-old from Indiana was heading into Subway to grab himself a sandwich for lunch. Instead, he found himself tackling a crazed customer.

Gabriel Pitzulo could hear the commotion inside the restaurant before he opened the doors. Once inside, Pitzulo said he witnessed a man attacking a female employee behind the counter.

That’s when Pitzulo’s mixed martial arts training kicked in and he immediately took down the customer. As a former wrestler, he was able to hold him down to the ground until police arrived.

“When I walked in, I saw him assaulting the lady and had spit at her. When I saw the spit, that’s kind of when it was go time for me,” Pitzulo said. “I didn’t like that too much.”

The 23-year-old said he visits that Subway about two to three times a week for lunch, so he was familiar with the employee who was being assaulted.

About two weeks after the incident, Pitzulo conducted a news interview with the woman. He said the Subway employee called him her hero and hugged him.

Aarij Kham, the Indianapolis district manager of Subway, released a statement in response to the incident, saying Pitzulo was the only one who walked in and stepped into action, doing what anyone should do.

“The whole week we had homeless people coming in a lot. We let them use the restrooms. The man in the video was there all week and we let him use the bathroom, gave him free food, made sure he was taken care of as we always do.

When he came in I was at another store but he asked for more free food and my employee said no at the time because he was drunk. He had 3-4 bottles of Hennessey on him that I later disposed of after the cops arrived. He got aggravated when she told him to leave and he threw stuff at her and did assault her – they were able to take photos of the mark on her face. 

Gabriel was the only one who walked in and he stepped into action and did what anyone should do. Gabriel was on him for 7-8 minutes and once the cops showed up, it took 4-5 cops to restrain him.

I told Gabriel that as long as I’m working here he can get free Subway from me or my manager.”

Aarij Kham, the Indianapolis district manager of Subway

Now, as a thank you, Subway has granted Pitzulo free sandwiches for life.

While Pitzulo does have the training under his belt for situations such as this, he still advises people to step up and help when others are being targeted.

“I advise anybody to stick up for, you know, to do what’s right. And to help people around you,” he said.