Story Archive

Keystone Kriminal

A robber needing money to pay his drug dealer thought he could get some quick cash from a Japanese restaurant in Champaign, Ill. He pulled a gun and demanded of the 17-year-old hostess, “Give me your money. Open the drawer.” The sushi chef went to her aid. “I instantly grabbed my sushi knife, walked up to him, wrapped my arm around his shoulder and asked him what he wanted,” said Tetsuji Miwa, 39. “He saw the blade, got scared and started running.” Miwa took off after the robber with the manager and assistant manager right behind, and a waitress called police. On the way out, the assistant manager grabbed a bar stool “and cracked him over the head with it,” dropping the robber in the parking lot. The manager then punched the robber until he dropped the gun, which turned out to be a pellet gun. One police unit nabbed the robber’s fleeing getaway driver, and another arrested Clayton Dial, 23, who was charged with attempted aggravated robbery, intimidation, and aggravated battery, and jailed on $100,000 bond. Miwa said later he was glad he didn’t have to use his super-sharp knife on the robber: “It’s pretty expensive, so I didn’t want to damage it or use it,” he said. (RC/Champaign News-Gazette) ...Yeah, a $500 sushi knife is overkill against a two-bit robber.