Vallejo CA Man Recalls Pulling Double Armbar on Fire Starter

Jul. 15—Alex Bello was driving home from some errands last weekend when he saw a man throwing a lit flare into a dry field.

A rather delighted man, at that.

"I've never seen anybody be so happy to be lighting a fire," the Vallejo resident recalled. "He was laughing. Like, he ran off laughing, and that's what pissed me off."

As grass burst ablaze and wind began hurling flames across a field beside the Vallejo Target on July 8, Bello sprang into action. He didn't just call 911. He also whipped his vehicle into a U-turn and began following the alleged arsonist as he ran to a black Tesla in front of another field.

There, Bello said he saw the suspect —later identified as Vy Truong —try and fail to light the other field on fire with some matches. Before anything worse could happen, Bello — who has some background in mixed martial arts — grabbed the other man.

Acting quickly, Bello threw the suspect into a hold that police described as a "double armbar" —and kept him pinned like that until authorities came.

"I did what had to be done," Bello said. "It wasn't for awards or anything. It was just, it had to be done."

Now, Bello hopes his actions can inspire others —including his 11-month-old daughter, Alejandra —to do the same.

"If we want to have better homes, better cities, better roads ... citizens have to, you know, take control in giving it a good name as well," Bello said. "Just as we're a part of the community, we have to make it better. And that starts with everybody."

Last weekend's fire, according to authorities, swept across 15 acres of land before firefighters extinguished it. Not only that, but the Vallejo Police Department said Tuesday that the suspect had extra flares inside his vehicle as well —potentially making Bello's quick action that much more valuable.

Bello, who works in construction, previously studied martial arts for about two years and grew up wrestling with his friends. But he said his actions last week were "more of muscle memory" than a result of his current lifestyle.

Bello never doubted he could take down Truong, but he said he double-checked with authorities before pulling the other man into a lock.

"I was telling them, 'I feel comfortable, I just don't want to get in trouble,'" he said. "'I want to be sure that you guys are giving me the OK.'"

While he held the suspect securely, Bello said he made sure not to harm him. Bello estimates he's 100 pounds heavier than Truong.

Truong remained in Solano County's Justice Center Detention Facility on $35,000 bail as of Friday. He has been charged with arson and possession of a stolen vehicle, with authorities asserting that the Tesla was stolen out of Fremont.

Truong's next court date, according to the Solano County list of inmates, is set for July 24.

Despite his fast thinking last week, Bello insists "I'm just an average person." But he admitted, "I'm the type of person that if (other people) are running away from trouble, I run toward it."

The construction worker said one of his dreams is to be a firefighter, and his knowledge of how serious fires can become in California made him all the more determined to stop the alleged arsonist.

"He's starting a fire, and you know, with all this stuff going on last year and the year before with those huge fires, the last thing we need right now is another fire," he said.

With his daughter babbling cheerfully in the background of a Friday phone interview, Bello described himself as being "a troublemaker" as a kid. Now that he is a parent, though, he's starting to realize that "it all starts with us."

"We can't ask our kids to be better people if we're not better people," Bello said.

So that's how Bello wants to live —one double armbar at a time.

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