“She was definitely in panic," explained Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo Head Instructor Randall Ephraim. "She was scared to death."
The woman came to the right place. Because of her quick thinking, a man is now in jail.
Police said 46-year-old August Williams tried to kidnap a woman Thursday night as she walked down Statesville Avenue in north Charlotte. He repeatedly attempted to get her into his truck.
She ran as he chased her to Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo. She exclaimed that he was trying to "get" her.
With a room full of skilled karate instructors and students you could say luck was on her side.
“He started to swing and punch at me," Ephraim said. "So from there we got into a little altercation."
Ephraim performed what he calls basic self-defense move then escorted the guy out.
“It was waiting game of subduing him outside and waiting for the police to come,” he explained.
Officers said Williams appeared to be under the influence of drugs and there’s no telling what could've happened had the studio’s doors not been open.
“She lucked out and chose a good spot which is a good safety tip. If you think you’re in danger run to a group of people you can find," Metro Division Officer JD Thomas said. "She was telling them to call 911. You do that and most suspects will leave, and if not there’s safety in numbers.”
But the instructors don’t want to be called heroes for what they did, they’re just happy a woman in the community was able to go home to her family at the end of the day.
“I was just doing what any responsible citizen in the community should do, which is protect the women, children and elderly,” Ephraim said.
Police don’t think this was totally random.
Officials are still investigating if there was any prior relationship between the man and woman. Police are also looking to see if this man is connected to any unsolved cases. The man has been arrested before on assault and weapons charges.