Don't mess with Khmer kickboxers!!!

Martial artist Seiha Hak, of Boston, talks with LBPD after he and two other martial artists subdued an alleged robbery suspect, who was taken into custody and transported to hospital after he attempted to rob the VI Mean Chey Jewelry store at 1248 E. Anaheim Street in Long Beach. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer)

An alleged robbery suspect is taken into custody and transported to a hospital after he allegedly attempted to rob the VI Mean Chey Jewelry store at 1248 E. Anaheim Street in Long Beach. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer)

Jewelry Store owner Chhom Choy is transported to a hospital after an alleged robbery suspect attempted to rob his store VI Mean Chey Jewelry, at 1248 E. Anaheim Street in Long Beach. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer)

Martial artists help Long Beach jewelery store owner stop robbery

July 17, 2012
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH — A feisty store owner with the help of three martial arts experts foiled an attempted armed robbery Monday at a jewelry store on Anaheim Street.

An unidentified suspect was in police custody and two alleged accomplices who fled the scene were sought after the failed heist at Vi Mean Chey Jewelry in the Cambodia Town section of the city.

According to witnesses, three men attempted to gain access to the store in the 1200 block of Anaheim Street shortly before noon, saying they wanted to buy gold chains.

However, owner Chhom Choy, who has a security system at the store, only allowed one to enter.

Once inside the store, the assailant pulled a gun and vaulted the counter, according to witnesses.

A scuffle ensued and at least one shot was fired. The would-be robber attempted to flee out the back but there was no exit there.

"My dad chased him and they started fighting," said the store owner's daughter, Narong, translating the account of her mother, Danna Ngeth, who was inside protecting her infant grandchild.

Choy suffered an injury to his head in the scuffle, either from being grazed by a bullet or being struck with the gun in the scuffle, witnesses said.

Choy was taken to the hospital, but relatives said they believed the injury wasn't serious.

Carrie Beltran, a niece of the store owner who had just left her infant daughter at the store, joined the fray.

"I saw a a commotion and (the suspect) was hitting people," said Beltran, who had blood on her blouse and lost a shoe in the scuffle.

Narong said her family has owned the store for more than 10 years and never had a problem.

"We have a security system and video," Beltran said.

At the same time the crime began, three visiting martial arts experts who had stopped at an adjacent store heard the fight.

They said they saw two young men jump into a car, possibly a Ford Thunderbird, and flee.

"I see a guy screaming and then my student (ran) over," said Bunsong Seng, a martial arts master from New York who was visiting.

That student, Seiha Hak, entered the store and helped subdue the suspect with an arm-bar hold while Seng and Sangva Chan Mam, another martial artist, followed.

Seng admitted, almost sheepishly, that the suspect's arm may have been broken in the altercation.

The suspect was detained until police arrived and was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries.

Police didn't release the detained suspect's name nor details of his arrest.

Hak, Seng and Mam had come to Long Beach to honor local Khmer kickboxing legend Oumry Ban, who was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the kickboxing studio he runs.

Anyone with knowledge of the attempted heist is asked to call the Long Beach Police Department robbery detail at 562-570-7464. Anonymous tips can be made online at tipsoft.com.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-714-2093, twitter.com/gregmellen