Nurse Gives 2 Attackers a Dose of Combativeness : Crime: Woman fights off 2 would-be thieves in parking lot. Police admire her bravery but warn others not to follow her example.

Nurse Joan Lepman has long dedicated herself to saving lives. On Monday, the life she preserved was her own.

In a dramatic act of defiance, the 37-year-old La Habra woman wrestled an armed man to the ground, causing him and his partner to flee empty-handed after they tried to steal her truck at gunpoint.

“It was all pretty amazing,” Lepman said. “If I had cooperated, I still could have gotten shot. Or I could have gotten shot trying to protect myself. I decided to do the latter.”

The foiled attack has made Lepman a local celebrity, with police, relatives and friends praising her for her courage. But law enforcement authorities warned others not to attempt to follow her example.

“Although we commend her on her bravery, I certainly do not recommend that anybody else do that,” said La Habra police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp. “We’re just happy that there were no serious injuries.”

Lepman, a nurse for a Whittier hospital, said she had just finished paying a bill at a local department store on West Imperial Highway and was pulling out of a parking stall about 11:50 a.m. when she was startled by a man who knocked on the window of her new pickup truck.

At the same time, a second man approached the car from the other side and asked her for directions to a discount shoe store. While her attention was diverted to the passenger window, the first man “whipped out” a 9-millimeter handgun and stuck it into her mouth.

“They said they wanted the car,” Lepman said. “It was a setup, and I fell for it, which I don’t do normally.”

With only a split second to think, Lepman grabbed the gunman’s arm, pulling the weapon away from her. In the struggle, he pulled her outside the truck through the side window.

The two fell to the ground, wrestling wildly, Lepman said. The second suspect ran to the driver’s side, jerked open the door and climbed in, Lepman said.

Lepman was determined to spoil the car-stealing scheme. Still hanging onto the gunman, the 5-foot, 6-inch woman, who weighs 150 pounds, reached into the truck--over the lap of the car thief--and grabbed the keys, ripping them out of the ignition.

A passerby called police, who responded within seconds. Hearing the sirens, the men released Lepman and fled across the street into a refinery, she said.

Lepman suffered a slight concussion, scrapes and bruises over most of her body and a gash on her gums from slapping the handgun away from her face. She stayed home on Tuesday to recuperate.

“I just saved myself,” Lepman said. “It’s pretty bizarre how everything took place.”

Officers in five police cars joined in the search at the refinery, authorities said.

After about 30 minutes, a police officer and a security guard spotted two men, panting and muddy, sitting in front of an office building.

“The one guy was crouched over, spitting up, he was so winded,” Knapp said.

Arrested without incident were Luis Gabriel Nava, 19, of Harbor City and a 17-year-old Wilmington juvenile, whose name was withheld because of his age, Knapp said.

The youth was turned over to Orange County juvenile authorities, Knapp said.

Nava was being held in La Habra City Jail on $50,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned today in North County Municipal Court in Fullerton, Knapp said.

“There certainly was the potential for her to get killed,” Knapp said. “(But) I’m glad it turned out the way it did, and we are impressed by her tenacity. We’re happy we have potential crooks in custody today.”