Video Shows Armed Kentucky Chinese Restaurant Owner Kidnap 13-Year-Old Black Boy From Kroger
A Chinese restaurant owner in Louisville, Kentucky, was arrested on June 4 after he allegedly kidnapped a 13-year-old Black boy from a Kroger grocery store.
Fabao Chen, 58, was charged with kidnapping a minor and three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, reported WHAS11.
According to an arrest citation, Chen was at a Kroger when he took the unidentified victim "against his will" and walked him to the Double Dragon restaurant. In a surveillance video, Chen is seen grabbing the boy’s arm.
When witnesses attempted to intervene and separate the boy from Chen, he pulled out a black handgun.
Video taken by witnesses shows Chen waving the gun around, pointing it at the crown and then at the boy’s head.
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"It's really wrong what he did, somebody could have gotten hurt,” Patricia Duncan, who works in the neighborhood, told WHAS11.
Officers later determined the handgun was a BB gun, according to the arrest report.
During his plea hearing, Chen pleaded not guilty and, through a translator, said a child was throwing a bottle in his restaurant, and he was trying to get him to stop. However, people in the area said Chen has a habit of disrespecting people in the community.
"He's gotten into other altercations with customers and always points that gun. This is not the first time," Amanda Thompson-McAllister, the manager at Laundry Connection, told WHAS11.
And while neighboring businesses say they have seen some kids in the area causing trouble, they don’t think Chen handled it the right way.
"Them throwing rocks down at the store, I heard about that," witness Patricia Duncan told WHAS11. "But it’s his reaction that’s the problem."
"It should have been handled different by calling the police, not going and grabbing the child, like he did," she added.
During an arraignment hearing on June 5, Chen’s bond was set at $20,000. The Jefferson District Court judge also ruled that Chen can't have contact with his restaurant.
