Buffalo Grove man stops restaurant attack
A 21-year-old Buffalo Grove man credits his kung fu training for helping him stop someone who was trying to set a Chicago restaurant on fire this week.
Ajay Kumra stopped in to get something to eat at Baba Palace, 334 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, around 5 p.m. Wednesday. He had just sat down with his meal when, he said, he heard a commotion at the front counter.
“I went up to one of guys that worked there and asked what’s going on. That’s when he told me, ‘The guy’s got gasoline and matches.’ He was belligerent,” Kumra said.
The man started tossing gasoline, but as he was about to light a match, Kumra stepped in.
The restaurant’s surveillance footage shows Kumra confronting and hitting the man, before other restaurant employees and patrons joined in.
Earlier, the man, who was said to be drunk, was refused service at the restaurant. He returned and threw a container of urine behind the counter, authorities said. That’s when police were called, and the man was removed.
The man returned again with the gas container and matches, police said.
The suspect was identified as Asif Kahn, 42, of the 8900 block of South Commercial Avenue in Chicago. He was arrested on a criminal damage to property charge and released on bond Thursday, according to Chicago police.
Kumra said it was easy to overpower the suspect.
“Through kung fu I had the initiative to take care of the guy,” he said.
Kumra has been taking classes in kung fu for five years at Little Nine Heaven Internal Kung Fu at 2120 Sheridan Road in Highland Park.
His instructor, Richard Baron, said Kumra called him right after the confrontation, his voice still shaking and adrenaline still pumping.
“He was at right place at right time with the right skills,” Baron said. “He did what he was trained to do.”
Kumra has a black belt in the hsing-I style of kung fu and a brown belt in splashing hands. He said he used both types of Chinese boxing during the restaurant attack.
Baron said many of his students began taking martial arts classes for self-defense purposes.
“People join because they want to feel empowered,” Baron said. “They want to feel in their lives they can be the superhero they see on TV. We teach students to be that superhero ... to be that one to make a difference.”