Celebs

Boston actor credited with saving family from home invasion in LA

“If you want a quote, call the LAPD because those guys are the real heroes. They put their lives on the line every day multiple times a day,” Jonathan Tucker told Los Angeles magazine.

Actor Jonathan Tucker attends the 17th annual Women in Film (WIF) Oscar nominees party at the Catch Steak LA, in Los Angeles, California, on March 8, 2024. Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images

By Abby Patkin

June 7, 2024

1 minute to read

His on screen characters have ranged from seedy gangsters to hardened villains, but Boston-born actor Jonathan Tucker played the role of real-life hero this week when he helped rescue a neighbor’s family from a home invasion.

According to Los Angeles magazine, the “Kingdom” and “City on a Hill” actor called 911 Sunday night after he saw a suspicious man banging on doors in LA’s Hancock Park neighborhood, where Tucker lives with his wife and two children. As he spoke to police, Tucker saw that a neighbor’s door was wide open and leaped into action, the magazine reported.

In Ring surveillance footage obtained by local news channel KTLA, screaming can be heard coming from inside the home after the suspect entered. The homeowner told KTLA that he was out of the house at the time, but his wife and daughters were home when the man walked in. He said he hurried home after a neighbor texted him about the suspicious man and recalled Tucker rushing in after him to help evacuate the children.

Footage shows the family escaping through the back of the house, with a barefoot Tucker carrying one of the children. The homeowner told KTLA that police eventually found the suspect hiding in a closet.

Authorities took the man into custody, Los Angeles magazine reported.

“If you want a quote, call the LAPD because those guys are the real heroes. They put their lives on the line every day multiple times a day,” Tucker told the magazine. “They responded within minutes, while I was still on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. It was an extraordinary response.”

Raised in Charlestown, Tucker began dancing with the Boston Ballet as a child. His earlier film roles include “Sleepers” in 1996, “The Virgin Suicides” in 1999, and 2003’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake.