Holly MatkinManhattan, NY – A good Samaritan used his jiu-jitsu skills to stop a would-be kidnapper from snatching a toddler away from a woman in Madison Square Park last week.
Brian Kemsley, 33, said he was walking with his girlfriend on Fifth Avenue at the edge of the park at approximately 3 p.m. on Nov. 9 when they heard a woman screaming nearby, WPIX reported.
Kemsley said he heard two men telling another man to “let go,” and realized that someone was trying to rip a stroller away from the woman.
“[The suspect was] saying things like, ‘How do you know this is her baby? Why you helping her? This could be my baby,’” he recounted to WPIX.
The frantic woman was also carrying her four-year-old as she tried to stop the man from taking the stroller where her younger child was sitting, FOX News reported.
“It’s not a matter of stepping in it’s a matter of duty, when you see a woman and her child screaming,” he later told WPIX. “Clearly this guy…we couldn’t just let him go.”
Cell phone footage captured the moment when Kemsley ran into the fray and grabbed the would-be kidnapper from behind.
He wrestled the suspect to the pavement, then held him down while he waited for help to arrive, the video showed.
The suspect cursed at everyone around him as he unsuccessfully tried to escape.
A second Good Samaritan ended up sitting on the combative man’s legs to help keep him secured.
Police arrived and placed the suspects in handcuffs, at which point Kemsley was finally able to get back onto his feet as bystanders applauded, the video showed.
He estimated the entire incident lasted approximately 15 minutes.
Kemsley, who has fought professionally in Muay Thai bouts, said his jiu-jitsu training definitely helped him to quickly subdue the suspect, FOX News reported.
Huge congrats to our boy Brian Kemsley (originally from Hong Kong) of Outbreak fame! https://t.co/PXgsUfv6ll pic.twitter.com/Cnxykjyc4o
— Unite Asia (@uniteasia) May 24, 2016
“Here’s the thing, I don’t enjoy jujitsu, 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,” Kemsley said in a social media post after the brawl, according to FOX News.
The woman and her children returned to the scene after the suspect was taken to Bellevue hospital for a psychological evaluation and thanked him for his help, Kemsley told FOX News.
“I’m happy she did that,” he said.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Obscene Language:
