New Haven Independent

Delivery Man Rescues Car; Crowd Nabs Thief

by Melissa Bailey | September 5, 2008 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

This time, Hui Zhao was determined not to let someone get away with his Toyota.

Zhao (pictured) was delivering Chinese food to a home Wednesday when he saw someone jump into his idling car. It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to steal his car in the two short months he’s spent working in New Haven.

Zhao works at Wok On In, a Chinese fast-food restaurant at 1409 Chapel St., across the street from the Hospital of St. Raphael. Wednesday night, as rain streamed down outside, Zhao got a call for a delivery just around the corner.

He loaded the feast into his car — chicken, broccoli and garlic, shrimp lo mien — and drove a couple blocks away to Hotchkiss Street. It was about 9 o’clock, pretty dark. He parked on the quiet, one-block-long street. He rang the bell at number 37.

Monique Kendrick (pictured), 21, answered the door.

“He came, rang my doorbell, and left the car running,” Kendrick recalled, sitting on her porch railing Thursday afternoon. “As soon as he rings the doorbell, a man jumped in the car.”

The man was from Olive Street. He had been lurking around the neighborhood earlier that day, Kendrick said.

When Zhao saw the man behind the wheel of his Toyota, he ran to save it.

“The guy tried to jump my car,” recounted the Chinese immigrant in broken English. “He want to go.” Zhao dove his torso in through the open driver’s side window and tried to snatch the key out of the ignition.

The thief swerved, smashing the car into the back of a parked car.

The rest is blurry in Zhao’s memory. At some point, he got elbowed in the chest and was thrown onto the pavement of the street. As he lay there, a crowd of neighbors emerged to the rescue.

Kendrick, who was standing on her porch, remembered the scene a bit more clearly.

“When the car crashed, everybody heard the impact,” she recalled. Fifteen to 20 neighbors came out in the street, she said. When they saw that one of their cars had been smashed, they rushed in.

“Everybody just ran in from everywhere.” They pulled the runaway driver out of the car. The thief tried to run. Then he got tackled by a group of guys.

“Everyone pinned him against the fence,” Kendrick recalled.

Five or 10 minutes later, police arrived, Zhao said. He estimated seven or eight men had come to his rescue. The suspect, age 31 of Olive St., was charged with third-degree robbery and first-degree larceny, according to police.

Zhao emerged with a few aches and pains but did not need hospital treatment. He was back at work on Thursday, in the kitchen with an apron on.

He looked rattled by the experience, and concerned by the big new dent to his auto.

“This is my only car,” he said. “It’s my wife’s car.”

The first two months in New Haven have been tough, he said. He moved in above the restaurant, which his sister owns, two months ago, and started helping her out in the kitchen, and occasionally as a driver.

Just one month ago, he had the same thing happen: He left the car idling on Sherman Avenue only to find it whisked away. The thief rode around in the car for 10 days before cops recovered it, Zhao said. The thief took his iPod, too.

Officer Joe Avery, the police department’s neighborhood specialist, has compiled a list of safety tips to keep drivers from being the victims of crime. One of those tips is never to leave the engine running. (Click here for a backstory with another deliverer’s take on the dangers of the job).

Zhao said he’s afraid for his safety when he goes out at night. He said he’d prefer to remain in the kitchen: “I’m a cooking man.”

Zhao’s car remained safely stored behind the restaurant Thursday. Meanwhile, a group of young men started hanging out again on Hotchkiss, where the crash had happened, at about quarter to five o’clock.

None of them owned up to being the heroes who wrestled the perp and rescued the immigrant’s car.

“Honestly, I was too fucked up last night,” said one man. Another took a swig from a forty and didn’t say a word. The owner of the car, holding a small girl in his arms, didn’t want to be interviewed about the wrestling match.

He pointed to where his car had been crushed in the rear end, adding up to $3,500 of damage.

“Now it wobbles,” he said.

Across the street, Kendrick felt sorry for starting the whole thing. She said when she saw Zhao struggling with broken English, she tried to step in and help him explain to police what had happened.

“I was the actual one who ordered the food, so I felt bad,” she said. “He probably won’t be delivering here no more.”

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Comments

Posted by: David Streever | September 5, 2008 9:05 AM

I'm glad he got his car, and feel badly for him, but seriously, just turn off the engine! There is no need to idle the car.

You don't even need to idle to warm up except on the coldest days. Warming up your car is accomplished by driving slowly & easily. The engine warms up in about 30 seconds, and this only has to be done on a really cold day. The moving parts in the wheel (bearings, etc) warm up when you drive slowly. (that's the only way)

Don't leave your car without the keys--that's it. Simple.

Posted by: Anonyme | September 5, 2008 12:16 PM

"You don't even need to idle to warm up except on the coldest days. Warming up your car is accomplished by driving slowly & easily. "

I'm not sure proper engine temperature has ever been a concern among the masses given how many people I see in a given day just turn the key and floor it. Nine times out of ten "warming" your car in the winter means waiting for the inside to be comfortable and the defroster to do what it can to the ice/snow on the windshield which takes considerably longer than 30 seconds.

Posted by: David Streever | September 5, 2008 1:05 PM

Oh, I'm sure--I just wanted to stave off any potential disagreement about idling.

Engine temperature reaches a safe temperature (in sub 25 degree temperature) within 30 seconds. That's what I mean--not when lazy people are comfy to drive :).

Posted by: FairHavenResToo | September 6, 2008 2:22 PM

Since this is twice now that the subject has left his car idling and had it stolen, does he qualify for a Darwin Award yet, or is three times required?

Posted by: David Streeverr | September 6, 2008 11:12 PM

The mean-spirited awards you are referencing have, as a basic requirement, that the recipient be unable to pass on his or her genetic material. As the man in question is alive, and presumably well, a Darwin award would be out of the question in this case.

Posted by: FairHavenResToo | September 8, 2008 1:14 PM

Alas, this I did not realize. Perhaps if he does not learn his lesson soon, he will qualify sooner than he expected . . .

Posted by: markswiss | September 8, 2008 10:31 PM

"Don't leave your car without the keys--that's it. Simple."

Well that is one way to see it.

Or how about you don't take other peoples Property because you're bored and well just because you can.

You can train a dog to walk down the street and not eat off the pavement. How hard can it be for a man to walk down the street and not take someone's car?

Posted by: FairHavenResToo | September 9, 2008 12:32 PM

You'd think it wouldn't be that hard, wouldn't you? But I live on a street in Fair Haven and a guy who lives just eight houses down steals anything and everything he can find, while everyonoe is sleeping. So far he's taking my window A/C, broken into my basement and stolen copper, stolen a radial arm saw out of my back yard, and most recently I caught him ripping the aluminum siding off the side of my house at 11:45 one night. I am dead serious. I even had to pay $20 to get the saw back from "some guy" he knew that had stolen it. He's a deadbeat drug dealer who is usually high on crack and apparently, that's more than sufficient motivation for him.

Posted by: markswiss | September 10, 2008 11:43 AM

If you reward a thief by buying back what he steels from you do you think he will by pass you next time?
He needs to believe that the next time he enters your basement or yard he will not leave it.
He will only stop if it is easer to get the money he needs from someone/somewhere else.

Posted by: FairHavenResToo | September 10, 2008 12:22 PM

MarkSwiss: yes and no. This was a 12" Craftsman radial arm saw and he only stole the saw portion, not the arm/table, so there was no way he could hawk it at a pawn shop, especially because it was an older model. What else would you have me do? It was worth more than $20 to me and if I had turned him down and instead called the cops, I'd never see the saw again and there'd be nothing to charge him with, as he kept insisting that some "other guy" had the saw. Think about it.

Posted by: Dawn | September 16, 2008 8:44 AM

As a resident of Greenwood St. it is obvious that what we need are more police patrols not little lists!
Of course you don't leave your car running and of course you don't leave it unlocked..BUT there is a group of young people hanging around on corners all the time here on the corner of Scranton and Greenwood and nothing is ever done about it. My car has been broken into to and my landlord installed outdoor motion lights!These people are seen hiding behind the building at Leon's Market using drugs, they fight with each other, scream and holler run through yards, over fences and generally create havoc. There are several with those stupid ATV's - how do they have these when nobody works??? The police and the landlord, Apple Management have been informed, even our Alderman that guy Shah - what a waste he is!
Keep your lists - I'll trade them for action!

Delivery Man Rescues Car; Crowd Nabs Thief

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