A pastor in Antioch, California confronted and overpowered a would-be burglar attempting to steal from his church on Thanksgiving.

The incident started when Pastor Nick Neves spotted the burglar in the kitchen of the church holding a box of stolen items, according to news reports. The pastor warned the suspect to stop, but the thief attempted to flee, prompting Neves to chase him. The two men engaged in a 12-15 minute physical struggle in the church’s parking lot.

“I shouted at him to stop, and that the police were on their way, and he ran and I grabbed a hold of him and we ended up wrestling in the parking lot of the church,” Pastor Neves told reporters.

Neves explained that his martial arts training helped him subdue the intruder. “I like to stay fit, and I studied in some jujitsu and kickboxing and I have a mixed martial arts background,” he explained. “So it was very helpful to be able to grapple with this gentleman without having to do much harm to him,” he said.

The pastor’s objective was to neutralize the suspect while protecting himself from harm.

What the suspect didn't know is that Pastor Neves knows how to fight. He used his years of martial arts training in jiu-jitsu and kickboxing to overcome the would-be robber until the police came. He says they wrestled for 12 to 15 minutes.

"Just using positioning. I tried to maintain back control on the gentleman so that he wasn't able to strike at me very effectively. And try to keep control of his hands, so that if he had a weapon of some kind, I'd be able to keep him from getting that weapon and using it against me," says Pastor Neves.

One church member expressed his relief that Neves was unharmed. “It could’ve gone in totally different direction and we thank God that it didn’t,” he said to NBC News. “He’s very tough and we’re very grateful to God that he’s our pastor and not our enemy.”

Neves, who has been with the church for two decades, said that he did not want to see the suspect “run off and then come back later and rob us again” and noted that “it becomes a pattern where you get victimized a lot if you don’t do anything to standup for yourself.”

The pastor also noted that “Being a loving person doesn't mean you have to be a weak person. Humility and strength are not antithesis to each other. If there is a situation where you have to standup for yourself, I don't think you have to apologize for that.”

Neves lamented the fact that the individual resorted to stealing – especially when the church would have helped him if he had just asked.

“It’s just ironic. If he had come a couple of days earlier, he would have been blessed and get some food and be cared for,” the pastor said.

Pastor Neves also expressed hope that he could minister to the suspect at some point. "Hopefully I get a chance to speak to this guy again. I hope I have an opportunity to meet him in better circumstances, and maybe to talk to him a little bit without the panic of him getting arrested," he said.