HGTV star Tarek El Moussa is opening up about his earlier tried homicide arrest in his new e book, “Flip Your Life: Discover Alternative in Misery—in Actual Property, Enterprise, and Life.”
The 42-year-old, who now has a son, Tristan Jay, had some darkish instances 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 middle 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 that a part of his life helped form him into the person he’s right this moment.
“Each of my mother and father had been absolutely conscious of the harmful alternate 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 acquired my first glimpse of a number of the finer issues in life. However it was the least tough neighborhood in a really tough space,” he defined.
“Elements of Lakewood and Buena Park had been closely influenced by gangs,” he added. “By the point I began junior highschool, I used to be wanting over my shoulder loads. One after one other, guys I knew from college acquired drawn into the gangs, and I noticed the terrible penalties when that occurred. I made a acutely aware choice to level my life in a special route. However first, I needed to survive.”
Surviving included moving into gang fights, considered one of which landed him in a juvenile detention middle.
Tarek El Moussa Landed In A Juvenile Detention Middle

“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 stated of his childhood.
There was one incident the place he squared off with a bunch 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. A couple of phrases had been exchanged, then mayhem erupted,” he recalled. “Fists flew, and so did the baseball bats. Through the free-for-all, an older man—perhaps nineteen or twenty—stepped towards me and swung his bat. I attempted to leap out of the way in which, however the bat linked, onerous—onerous sufficient to interrupt my ribs.”
“As a response, I dropped my arm and knocked the bat out of his arms,” 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 stated. “I used to be sitting at the back of a police automobile, 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 had 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 acquired in a little bit little bit of hassle right here and there,” he says, “however it was a sufficiently big incident the place it made me actually, actually take into consideration issues.”
“At the moment I’m satisfied that the police arrived at precisely the precise second,” he stated, including, “If I hadn’t been arrested, I might have been killed.”
Though that point of his life was robust, he stated, “It’s a part of my story.”
