Tarek El Moussa is a hugely successful HGTV star today, but as a teenager he led a very different life, which landed him in prison for attempted murder.
The now 42-year-old man has never hesitated to admit his dark past. He has been open about his criminal record and his addiction problems. But in his new memoirs called Turn Your Life Around: How to Find Opportunity in Difficult Situations – in Real Estate, Business, and Lifewhich will be released on February 6, went into shocking details.
In an expert shared with PEOPLEEl Moussa admitted to being involved in a gang while in high school and explained a near-death experience that ultimately led him on a straighter path.
That experience came to him when he was a sophomore. Although he had promised his parents that he would be in the audience to watch his girlfriend graduate one night, he decided to skip the event to help his vengeful friend.
“A guy I knew found out that his girlfriend had started dating someone else,” he recalled. “I can’t remember all the details of this Romeo and Juliet story, but the guy was heartbroken and furious. Word spread and soon both parties (my friend’s and the rival boyfriend’s) decided that scores needed to be settled immediately. Later that afternoon, about fifteen of us went to a local park, ready to fight the rival boyfriend and his friends with our fists… or so I assumed.”
When he arrived at the park, he was met by two pickup trucks full of men carrying baseball bats and crowbars. Tarek El Moussa realized that the situation took a dangerous turn, but he became convinced that his gang outnumbered the others. So he didn’t back down.
Tarek El Moussa believes the police saved his life
Once the fight began, an older man swung a bat and broke El Moussa’s ribs. El Moussa knocked the bat out of the man’s hand, grabbed it, and slammed it back. He hit the man in the head and knocked him unconscious.
“There were bodies everywhere,” he continued. “But then, on the other side of the park, I saw a ‘second wave’ forming. And these weren’t teenagers; These were the older brothers of the guys we had just fought… And they were running at me with crowbars. She was seventeen years old and at that time she was completely alone. That’s when the police stopped and saved my life.”
Officers arrested Tarek El Moussa and charged him with “assault and battery, aggravated assault, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon.” His parents immediately hired a lawyer, who was able to prove that El Moussa acted in self-defense and the charges were dropped.
“Today I am convinced that the police arrived at the exact moment,” he said. “If they hadn’t arrested me, they would have killed me.”
El Moussa’s life took a turn after that. A doctor prescribed ADHD medication, which curbed his “impulsivity.” He went from a C average to a 3.8 when he graduated. And although it took him years to get the right dose, he is “deeply grateful for it.”
“It’s part of my story,” he told the publication. “We are all products of our environment and I grew up in that environment. To thrive in that environment, you have to do certain things.”
“That’s why I shared what I shared,” he added. “[To show] You can literally be a gangbanger right now, robbing people, and you can change your life. Anyone can change. They just have to want to do it.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn