A good Samaritan called the bluff on an ill prepared “armed” bank robber, battling the brute with his bare hands, and coming out on top.

Eager to cash in his paycheck and not taking kindly to an “armed” robber trying to steal his hard earned money, Herb Pearce sprung into action when he noticed a man with a plastic bag wrapped around his hand trying to stick up a Chase Bank in Fullerton, California, the Daily Mail reported.

Recounting the event, Pearce said, “[The robber said] ‘This is a stick-up! I want all your money right now!’”

Incredulous, Pearce thought to himself, “…Is this guy for real?’”

The robber, later identified as Jacob Williams, claimed he had a gun and pointed it directly at Pearce’s head, but as it turned out, the crook was not for real, and was only armed with half a brain and a hand stuck inside a plastic bag.

“Pow!” I clocked him,” said Pearce, who is a termite exterminator by profession and cockroach exterminator by leisure. “He went back a little bit, he came at me again, I hit him again.”

Having thwarted what would have likely been a successful bank heist, Pearce subdued the criminal and kept him detained until authorities arrived.

Unfortunately, fighting crime comes at a cost, and Pearce fractured his hand in several places after it made contact with Williams’ face. He requested Chase Bank cover his medical expenses but they refused, stating their insurance provider didn’t cover it.

Even still, the heroic exterminator of bugs and crime said he’d do it again.

“I’ll be darned if some junkie is gonna come off the street and take my [money]. I put too many hours in to get that paycheck. So I’m not gonna let him take my money,” Pearce declared.

[ Daily Mail ]