Knife-wielding sushi chef foils restaurant robbery
The robber had a pellet gun, the sushi chef a sharp shiny knife. The robber took off.
But he didn't get very far from the Kamakura Japanese restaurant in Champaign Tuesday night. Chef Tetsuji Miwa and a couple of co-workers tackled the robber in the parking lot and held him for police.
Nursing a sprained ankle from the episode, Miwa told the Champaign News-Gazette the last thing he wanted to do was use his knife -- a very important tool of his trade.
"It's pretty expensive so I didn't want to damage it or use it," he told the newspaper. "I was telling him, 'Don't make me use this.' As soon as the other two managers came out, I set it down to the ground very carefully because I didn't want to damage my blade."
The robber entered the restaurant around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, stepped to the cash register just inside the door, pulled what appeared to be a revolver from his waistband and demanded cash from the hostess.
"He just stood there and started asking for money," said Miwa, who was only a few yards away from the 17-year-old hostess. "I saw her face. She was very scared.
"He said, 'Give me your money. Open the drawer.' " Miwa said. "That's when I instantly grabbed my sushi knife, walked up to him, wrapped my arm around his shoulder and asked him what he wanted. He saw the blade, got scared and started running."
He and two other workers wrestled him to the ground, with the help of a stool that assistant manager Joe Pendzialek grabbed "and cracked him over the head with it," he told the newspaper.
The suspect, 23-year-old Clayton Dial of Ogden, Il., was arrested and charged with attempted aggravated robbery, intimidation and aggravated battery.