When a thief tried to board a van on the Mexico-Texcoco highway to rob its passengers last week, bus riders shoved, punched and kicked him into submission.

A video of the Friday afternoon retaliation has gone viral on social media, where some 440,000 viewers generally praise the actions of the five passengers. “Applause for these heroes without capes,” one user posted on YouTube. “Finally a happy ending.”

The encounter was caught by a security camera whose footage shows two men initially trying to board the bus, shouting profanities at the six riders and demanding they surrender their cell phones.

When one of the men appeared to be attempting to pull out a weapon, the bus driver accelerated, and only of the two was able to board. 

Upon realizing that his partner was not on the bus with him to back him up, he tried to jump out but his escape was blocked by a passenger. 

“Grab him, grab him!” the five passengers shouted, as they quickly banded together and beat the would-be assailant with their fists, feet and elbows, knocking him to the floor as the man begged for mercy, claiming that he was driven to crime because his mother was in the hospital. 

The passengers weren’t buying it, though, and the pounding lasted for four straight minutes. 

In a second video, the bus comes to a stop and the passengers throw the man’s pummeled and naked body out of the vehicle, leaving him on the side of the road. 

Footage of the attack has generated numerous memes, and some users have even provided a soundtrack for the beating, setting the fight to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and the theme from The Avengers.

Police say a report of the incident was not filed and that they are unaware of the man’s identity, condition or location. 

Robberies of passengers on public transit are a common occurrence in the Valley of México.

According to one media report earlier this year, there are 50 routes between México state and Mexico City that are considered high risk for armed robberies, most of which are committed with violence. The number of robberies soared 700% between 2017 and 2019.

Source: El Universal (sp), La Silla Rota (sp), El Universal (sp)