A local grappler and Muay Thai striker in New York City managed to subdue an attempted kidnapper on Monday, just moments after he tried to steal a woman’s baby from it’s stroller. The trained martial artist, Brian Kemsley, was just minding his own business at 3pm and walking through the park with his girlfriend when he saw the attempted kidnapping. The news initially broke on local station PIX 11, where he described the panic at the scene as the mother of the child tried to avoid losing her child. Kemsley also posted on facebook to give a more detailed version of events:
“Heard a woman screaming while sitting on a park bench. This man tried to take a baby in a stroller from her. A couple people tried to stop him, he wouldn’t let go of the stroller, and things escalated pretty quick. Here’s the thing, I don’t enjoy jujitsu. I don’t think training is fun at all. But I have a lot of respect for it as it is absolutely essential in a street fight, or for self-defense. This is coming from a Muay Thai fighter that’s very comfortable on my feet. It is way more effective to be able to control someone’s movements and limbs than it is to break your hand swinging, and hurting them as well. Cops took 30 minutes to show up, I had to hold him down for over 15 mins before park security even came around to cuff him. You can’t rely on cops, you can’t rely on just blasting people with a gun, go train, go learn this. The limited jujitsu I learned over 6 years ago allowed me to control a strong raging full-grown man like he was a baby. Thanks for my jits coach Chad Andrew Vaźquez for the refresher course last year. Play by play – Brought him down w a rear naked choked. Let it go and transitioned to a seatbelt. Got 2nd hook in. Laid him flat on my left side. At this point his weight had been pinned on my left leg for 10 minutes, my leg was going numb so I needed to transition to my right side. We saw cops and waved them down. They stopped, looked, and drove off. The man tried to head butt me backwards twice. After another 5 mins park security arrive and i asked them for cuffs. A man in the crowd let’s them know I was getting tired as I’ve been holding him for over 15 mins. I ask them to cuff the left hand first where I had good control, then rolled him over and cuffed the right hand. I’m then able to stand back him, put on my shoes, and get to Evolution Muay Thai in time for my training. The man got taken into a psych ward. The woman returned to the scene after running off initially to thank everyone. I might have Covid now.”
Below is the video of the Kemsley confronting the kidnapper, just one of many criminals restrained by a grappler until the police arrive:
