{"id":188354,"date":"2026-03-12T07:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188354\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T07:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:50:08","slug":"mma-trained-teen-subdues-ax-wielding-man-at-florida-car-wash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188354\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA-trained teen subdues ax-wielding man at Florida car wash"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ax-wielding\u00a0Florida man\u00a0allegedly stormed toward two teen brothers closing an Ocala car wash Sunday night before being quickly overpowered by the older brother, an 18-year-old MMA-trained<\/a> military recruit.<\/p>\n

Video released by the\u00a0Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office\u00a0allegedly showed the suspect, later identified as Bryce Thayer, 36, approaching car wash workers Leodan Pino, 18, and his 16-year-old brother as they were closing for the night.<\/p>\n

Officials said when Thayer was told to leave the property, he became \u201cirate\u201d and approached the brothers \u201cin a threatening manner\u201d while wielding an ax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was locking up all the doors, and I heard some screaming, someone yelling something,\u201d Pino told\u00a0FOX 35 Orlando<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously not in the right state of mind \u2026 He walks up to the tunnel, and that\u2019s when I tell him, \u2018You have to leave, man. You got to leave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Pino said that is when Thayer allegedly pulled out an ax that was clipped to his backpack and pointed it at him.<\/p>\n

Footage showed Pino lunging at Thayer as his younger brother yanked the ax away from him.<\/p>\n

Ax-wielding suspect Bryce Thayer stormed toward two teen brothers closing a car wash in Ocala, Florida. Marion County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n

18-year-old MMA-trained Leodan Pino quickly overpowered Thayer. Marion County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce he lowered, that\u2019s when I shot the take-down, and I got on top of him and I controlled the situation,\u201d said Pino, who is trained in mixed martial arts (MMA). \u201cOnce I realized he wasn\u2019t letting go, that\u2019s when I threw a couple elbows until he was incapacitated \u2026 I got him to his back, put him in a body triangle, held a rear naked choke on him and waited until the cops got there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thayer\u2019s mugshot showed heavy bruising to the face supposedly incurred during the struggle.<\/p>\n

Pino, who recently\u00a0enlisted in the military, said Thayer \u201cgot what he deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pino used his skills to bring Thayer to the ground and control the situation. Marion County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n

Thayer\u2019s mugshot showed heavy bruising to the face. Marion County Sheriff’s Office<\/p>\n

During Thayer\u2019s subsequent arrest, a search revealed he had a glass pipe used for methamphetamine<\/a>, according to the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

He was charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to jail records. He is being held on $11,000 bond.<\/p>\n

Pino said Thayer \u201cgot what he deserved.\u201d FOX 35 Orlando<\/p>\n

Jail records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Thayer was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office four times since May 2024, on charges including:<\/p>\n

Felony possession of a controlled substance without a prescription<\/p>\n

Felony possession of a controlled substance in a detention facility<\/p>\n

Damage to property<\/p>\n

Petit theft<\/p>\n

Trespassing after warning<\/p>\n

Possession of cannabis<\/p>\n

Two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia<\/p>\n

Pino said he is \u201cvery thankful that God gave me the opportunity and gave me the strength to be able to control that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful that I was the one closing on my brother and no one else was because I\u2019m not too sure if any other of my coworkers would have done the same thing as I would have,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just happy that I was able to protect my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ax-wielding\u00a0Florida man\u00a0allegedly stormed toward two teen brothers closing an Ocala car wash Sunday night before being quickly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,88309,4940,4278,6410],"class_list":["post-188354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-martial-arts","tag-teens","tag-us-news","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}