A good Samaritan has been hailed a hero after he used his mastery of several martial arts to prevent an attempted baby-snatching in a New York park last week.
Brian Kemsley, a 33-year-old Muay Thai coach, sprung into action after he spotted a man in the city’s Madison Park trying to grab a baby out of a stroller from a woman who was holding another small child in her arms.
Kemsley pinned the would-be kidnapper down for 15 minutes, preventing him from fleeing until police arrived, local news station PIX11 reported.
Kemsley later told the New York Post that once he had prevented the baby snatching and ensured the woman was safe, he had to focus on trying to stop angry bystanders attacking the creep.
“I was trying to get him away from the mother, and let her get away to safety … But toward the end of it, I was also trying to keep the guy safe from the mob,” he told outlet.
Police said they responded to the park on the afternoon of Monday November 9th for a report of an emotionally disturbed person, who was taken into custody and to Bellevue hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
The foiled kidnapping was captured on cellphone footage showing Kemsley tackling the man to the ground and holding him there.
As he was holding him, Kemsley said, he realized that the man, who kept itching for a fight, was also unwell, at one point appearing to think he was speaking to President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
Although he has trained in martial arts, including jiujitsu for a decade, Kemsley said he was “worried about passing out and losing my grip” by the end of the 15 minutes.
“Here’s the thing, I don’t enjoy jiujitsu, I don’t think training is particularly fun, but I have a lot of respect for it as it is absolutely essential in a street fight and self-defense,” he said.
After the ordeal, Kemsley said a bystander lent him a bottle of hand sanitizer that he “used in one shot.”
Then “everyone started clapping, everyone was grateful.”
“That was a very nice moment,” he recalled.
“If that guy hadn’t appeared and did what he did, this could have ended very differently,” one person who witnessed the incident at the park told Crazy America. “He was definitely a hero to everyone who saw what happened,” added the person, who declined to be identified.