Restaurant Owner Stops Armed Robber

Garden City police got some help catching an alleged armed robber Sunday night - when the man’s intended victims fought back.  News 3 spoke with police about the attack and has exclusive video of store employees taking matters into their own hands.

Garden City’s Chinatown Buffet had a bustling lunch crowd on Monday - the restaurant’s owner hard at work despite a scare Sunday night.  Police say a man wearing a ski mask walked in during the dinner rush, stuck a gun in the owner’s face and demanded his money.  The owner didn’t care for the threat.  “According to the report - the manager knocked the gun out of his hand and employees attacked the assailant and wrestled him to the ground and held him there until police arrived,” said Garden City Police Captain Al Jelinski.  In the video taken with an employee’s cell phone - you can see the man being restrained on the floor - police say his feet were tied with a phone cord.  Evans Benjamin Hayward was taken into custody when police arrived…they say - like most suspects approaching a victim with a gun - he likely wasn’t expecting a fight when he walked into the restaurant.  “They’re expecting you to do what they ask and when you get retaliated against them, it takes them by surprise and a lot of times they get overpowered and it makes our job really easy,” says Capt. Jelinski.

Even so - taking on an armed robber is not something they recommend to anyone. “We never ever recommend anybody try to - especially with somebody with a gun - try to prevent something like that - it’s not worth losing your life over a few dollars in your cash register,” says Capt. Jelinski.  Evans Benjamin Hayward is being held at the Chatham County Jail on felony charges of armed robbery and possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime.