Family of Taekwondo Athletes Stops Man From Sexually Assaulting Woman

(CNN) – When Simon An and his family heard screams coming from a store next to their family taekwondo studio Wednesday outside of Houston, Texas, they knew they had to find out what was going on.

An, 20, and his family – all of whom practice martial arts – immediately went next door. There, they found a man attempting to sexually assault a woman and intercepted the suspect, holding him on the ground until police arrived, according to an X message from Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

An told CNN on Friday that the family was returning from their lunch break and parking at Yong-In Studio in Katy when his father heard a “loud scream” as he got out of his car. Then the whole family heard “a second scream, and it was loud. Very loud.” “I would describe it as a scream of horror.”

His father drove the family to a nearby Cricket Wireless store. He heard another scream as he opened the door and rushed to the employee room in the back, where he found “a man on top of the woman with his hand over her mouth,” An said .

CNN has contacted Cricket Wireless for comment.

“Our first instinct was to save the girl,” An said. “We didn’t know what he was going to do to her.”

“My dad just pulled it out and stuck it in the corner of the building,” An described.

His father suffered a few scratches and bites during the fight, but is completely “fine”, An added.

Alex Robinson, 19, was charged with attempted sexual assault in connection with the case, according to court documents obtained by CNN affiliate KHOU. Robinson is accused of taking the victim to a different location, “causing her bodily injury by choking her,” “touching her breast” and ordering the victim to undress.

Robinson’s bond was set at $100,000. CNN has contacted his lawyer for comment.

In an interview with KHOU, An’s sister, Hannah An, 22, said she and her mother took the alleged victim to their training center to make sure “she was okay, because she needed after this experience.

The couple’s father, Han An, told KHOU he was grateful to have been in the right place at the right time and was looking forward to returning to class.

“My life is taekwondo,” he said. “I’m very proud of my family.”

The Harris County sheriff hailed the An family as “good Samaritans” and thanked them for their “swift action to protect others.”

The-CNN-Wire