3 men follow Marine veteran to OC home and attempt robbery; video shows him fight the crooks off

FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- A military veteran fought off two men who followed him home and pepper sprayed him in a brazen robbery attempt.

Video showed the suspects approach the unidentified victim and pepper spray him and push him in his garage before the Marine veteran fought back and ran the robbers out and down his driveway.

The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of W. Las Palmas on Sunday after the man -- who served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps -- and his wife came home from church and Home Depot.

The couple was being followed by three men in another car, and, when two of the men approached, they allegedly told him this, according to the man's son.

"They approached my dad and said, 'Hey, someone hit your car. There's car damage.' You can hear it on the recording," said the former Marine's son, who did not want his name identified.

The suspects were pointing to the bumper of the man's Tesla as a ruse.

"My dad was kind of confused because they came around him real quick," he added. "They peppered sprayed him all over. Thank God he had glasses. I think it gave him a little bit of the ability to fight back. He fought back hard and I think they were caught off guard because someone that old would fight back."

What also helped: there was a landscaping crew working at the house at the time of the attack.

The vandals, according to the victim's son, apparently did not see the landscapers, who rushed to help when they heard the father screaming.

"Those guys are heroes. My dad was screaming, fighting back. And they came running around and helped chase the guys. They didn't realize there were more guys here. And they just boned out," said the victim's son.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Walnut Station is investigating the incident and looking into whether it is connected to a similar case reported in Rowland Heights.