HGTV star Tarek El Moussa is opening up about his earlier tried homicide arrest in his new e-book, “Flip Your Life: The best way to Discover Alternative in Misery—in Actual Property, Enterprise, and Life.”
The 42-year-old, who now has a son, Tristan Jay, had some darkish occasions in his life, together with overcoming dependancy, beating most cancers, and an tried homicide arrest, which he spent a short while in a juvenile detention heart for.
Tarek El Moussa On His Arrest: ‘It’s Half Of My Story’
The co-host of HGTV’s ‘Flip or Flop’ grew up in a harmful surroundings, full of gangs and fights, however he says that going by way of that a part of his life helped form him into the person he’s in the present day.
“Each of my mother and father have been totally conscious of the harmful options on the market. The neighborhood the place we lived was not a lot white collar or blue collar as ‘no collar.’ True, the little pocket the place we lived had some up-and-comers; it was the place I obtained my first glimpse of a number of the finer issues in life. Nevertheless it was the least tough neighborhood in a really tough space,” he defined.
“Components of Lakewood and Buena Park have been closely influenced by gangs,” he added. “By the point I began junior highschool, I used to be wanting over my shoulder so much. One after one other, guys I knew from college obtained drawn into the gangs, and I noticed the terrible penalties when that occurred. I made a aware resolution to level my life in a distinct course. However first, I needed to survive.”
Surviving included entering into gang fights, certainly one of which landed him in a juvenile detention heart.
Tarek El Moussa Landed In A Juvenile Detention Heart
“I’ve been in shootings, I’ve been in knife fights, I’ve been hit within the face with a bat. You title it, I’ve had it,” he mentioned of his childhood.
There was one incident the place he squared off with a gaggle of fellows who rolled up in two SUVs and had baseball bats and crowbars.
“The 2 sides squared off in the course of the park. Just a few phrases have been exchanged, then mayhem erupted,” he recalled. “Fists flew, and so did the baseball bats. Through the free-for-all, an older man—possibly nineteen or twenty—stepped towards me and swung his bat. I attempted to leap out of the way in which, however the bat linked, exhausting—exhausting sufficient to interrupt my ribs.”
“As a response, I dropped my arm and knocked the bat out of his palms,” he continued. “I grabbed the bat and hit him within the head. He dropped to the pavement and went unconscious.”
“That’s when the police pulled up and saved my life,” the HGTV star mentioned. “I used to be sitting behind a police automotive, in handcuffs, charged with assault and battery, aggravated assault, tried homicide, and assault with a lethal weapon.”
Tarek El Moussa’s Arrest Saved His Life
“I’ll always remember. I used to be terrified once I was [in the juvenile detention center] as a result of the fees I had have been actually dangerous fees, and I didn’t know if I used to be going to be there for days or years,” the HGTV star advised PEOPLE. “I nonetheless obtained in just a little little bit of hassle right here and there,” he says, “nevertheless it was a large enough incident the place it made me actually, actually take into consideration issues.”
“As we speak I’m satisfied that the police arrived at precisely the correct second,” he mentioned, including, “If I hadn’t been arrested, I’d have been killed.”
Though that point of his life was powerful, he mentioned, “It’s a part of my story.”
