La-Pierre had flown from Boston to Chicago, sleeping in O'Hare Airport to save money. Early on the morning of October 13, he boarded the city's Blue Line to head for the Chicago Marathon.
The train was full of energized marathoners. La-Pierre took a seat next to a fellow runner and began chatting. Before long, La-Pierre noticed a man who seemed to be homeless moving from passenger to passenger, asking for spare change. His behavior struck La-Pierre as" really weird", especially the way he stared down anyone he felt hadn't given him enough.
At the Cumberland station, several stops before the one for the marathon, most of the passengers suddenly fled the car. La-Pierre shocked, rushed out to see what was going on, only to hear panicked people shouting that the man asking for money was, in fact, an armed and robbing guy.
Just then, the armed man himself exited the train car and hopped onto the next one. La-Pierre followed him." I could not walk away knowing there were innocent children and people just trying to get to a race. " he said.
The man was standing in the middle of the car when he turned and saw La-Pierre. La-Pierre crashed into the younger man, pinning him against the closed doors. The two men fought for the gun—and their lives.
"You don't move!" La-Pierre shouted, leaning into the armed man with his left side. The man tried shoving past him, but La-Pierre muscled him back against the door, grabbing the gun and handing it to a passenger, who quickly walked it off the train.
But La-Pierre wasn't in the clear. The man had accomplices (同伙) who now surrounded La-Pierre and began to threaten him. He knew he had only one chance to save himself, so La-Pierre growled (怒吼), " I'm a boxer. I'll break your head in one punch! " Then the police swarmed (聚集) around the train, and La-Pierre let them take over. He had a marathon to run.
This was not the first time La-Pierre has jumped into the fray (打斗). La-Pierre knew there was more to why he's become a serial good guy than that." I've lived a hard life" , he said" But I believe change starts within yourself. For the last 25 years, I've tried to make myself into a good man."
