Man Takes Gun From Suspected Carjacker

A suspected carjacker’s crime spree ended in arrest Sunday after a local plasterer interrupted an evening nap to disarm the man until police could arrive, authorities said.

“In my opinion he’s a hero,” Anaheim Police Lt. Ray Welch said of Jerry Alba, 35. “He just pulled the gun away, uncocked it and put it on the ground.”

Surrounded by congratulating friends later, Alba responded modestly.

“It was just a split-second reaction,” he said. “I saw him approaching my house and my wife and kids were on the porch. I was just protecting my family.”

Police arriving at the scene arrested Felipe Casada Guzman, 24, on suspicion of carjacking, kidnaping, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and misdemeanor hit-and-run.

According to Welch, the crime spree began about 6 p.m. when Guzman, whose address is unknown, approached a woman standing on the 100 block of Melrose Street, forced her at gunpoint into the passenger seat of her car and drove away.

The woman managed to jump out of the car a few blocks later while it was stopped at a light. Guzman then continued about a block before losing control of the car, running it onto the sidewalk and fleeing by foot, Welch said.

After allegedly burglarizing a home on Adele Street, the suspected carjacker was confronted by Alba in the front yard of his house next door.

“From the time I first saw him we never lost eye contact,” Alba said. “We just stared at each other and approached each other and I didn’t know what he was going to do and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then I just reached over and pulled the gun right out of his hand. It just happened so fast I didn’t even think about it.”