An Australian dad has been dubbed a real-life Captain Underpants after he was filmed in his undies tacking on crooks in the middle of the street.
Hero Steve Middleton – from Mermaid Waters on Australia’s Gold Coast – leapt into action when he spotted the gang trying to break into his daughter’s car on 26th December.
Explaining why he was in his underwear, he told local media: “I was just getting up because I was going to go fishing, and after the alarm went off when I looked out of the window, I saw a torch in my daughter’s car.”
He said that he rushed out to confront the crooks straightaway, although he had paused briefly to put on his underwear.
Steve explained: “I realised I was starkers so had to put something on, I didn‘t want to scare them too much.”
CCTV video footage of the showdown shows Steve grabbing one of the gang by his T-shirt and refusing to let go.
As the crook struggles to get free, his mask falls off as Steve wrestles him to a standstill while another threatens him with a knife.
Then a second member of the gang slashes at him with a baseball bat but can’t get close without cutting his pal.
Finally, Steve eventually loses his grip and all five crooks flee in their cars.
Steve later admitted that he did not realise two of them were carrying weapons.
He said that he shouted for his neighbours to help during the attack, and when one of them came in with a baseball bat and the knife, he had tried to put the other crook between them.
He added: “It was only a little fella, and was easy enough to throw around.”
He said that he didn’t believe they really wanted to harm him and just wanted to get their partner in crime free so they could escape.
The gang of five eventually escaped in a silver BMW X4 and white Mazda CX-3 with police later confirming that the Mazda had been stolen from a nearby neighbourhood.
He added that, to his amusement, his family had been bragging about him as the latest superhero – Captain Underpants, a character from a best-selling series of children’s books.
There were also joking about getting him a licence plate with the name.
Police confirm that they are investigating the incident, although no arrests have been made.
They confirmed that they had attended the incident of breaking and entering a vehicle, adding: “A 50-year-old male occupant at the property disturbed the pair.
“Two other male persons have then confronted the man, producing a bat and knife, before a physical altercation has occurred in which the man sustained a minor cut to his hand.”
