CHARLOTTE, NC — A north Charlotte karate teacher had an opportunity to put his self-defense skills to use this week, protecting a woman who ran into his dojo while fleeing a man she says tried to kidnap her by forcing her into a car.
Suffice it to say, this story did not have a happy ending for the alleged kidnapper.
The Jan. 3 incident occurred around 9 p.m., outside the Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo located at 2630 Statesville Avenue. The woman said the suspect, later identified as August Williams, 46, attempted to force her into a car, prompting her to run into the karate studio. Williams followed her.
The instructor said he initially thought Williams was there to ask about classes. “I asked how I could assist him and he stated that he was there for the lady. She insisted that she did not know him and tried to kidnap her,” he told CNN.
“He was just punching at everything from walls to cars, everything,” Randall Ephraim told WSOC. Ephraim is the sensei at Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo. “He was very strong,” Ephraim said. “He weighed at least 200 and some change, under the influence, very strong, powerful individual.”
When Ephraim asked him to leave, Williams said he wasn’t going anywhere, the sensei told CNN. “He then tried to force himself further into the dojo, aggressively pushing and swinging,” he said.
You probably have a good idea what happened next.
“I then went into action defending myself and got him out of the dojo. Once outside he attempted to attack again and was dealt with accordingly,” Ephraim said.
Williams, who needed to be transported to an area hospital before booking, had drugs in his system during the incident, police told WSOC.
“It’s a great thing the people in there were able to help defend her, extremely lucky that it was a karate studio and usually you don’t see a suspect act like this,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Capt. JD Thomas told the station.
The incident underscores the value in training for self defense, according to the karate studio. “By now most People have heard about the dojo incident. Luckily for this lady that the doors were open at that time. The story could have had a very different outcome if the dojo was closed,” it said on its Facebook page Saturday morning. “How will you deal with adversity when the time comes?”
Williams was charged with assault on a female, attempted kidnapping and injury to personal property.
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Photo courtesy of Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office
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