HankT
State Researcher
imported post
This one is kind of muddled. Self-defense? Kind of.
Consorting with criminals regarding illegal activity, kind of.
Reminds me a bit of the anty506 case in Louisiana.
One thing forsure. As usual, HankT's Postulate on Civilian Self-Defense applies...
Yan De Yang is accused of shooting and killing a customer inside his Chopsticks & Sushi Restaurant.
Sushi Bar Owner Says He Killed Man In Self-Defense
Restaurant Worker Said Her Boss Was Being Pressured To Pay Debt
Alan Gathright
POSTED: 1:27 pm MDT October 27, 2009
UPDATED: 5:41 pm MDT October 27, 2009
DENVER -- [/b]A Denver sushi bar owner facing murder charges for gunning down a man in his crowded downtown restaurant last week said he acted in self-defense when two men attacked him.
Yan De Yang, 40, owner of Chopsticks & Sushi, at 1630 Welton St., told police he shot a man who began choking him, while another man held him, according to a police report. Yang said he had run across the man who was choking him before. A week earlier, Yang kicked him out of the restaurant for being drunk.
But a restaurant worker said the dispute was over two men pressuring Yang to pay off a debt, while the owner insisted he had paid back the money.
Yang is being held in jail for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Lloyd Running Bear, 29, who was shot repeatedly in the chest last Thursday, according to an investigator's statement supporting an arrest warrant for Yang.
Asked if police were investigating whether Yang had problems with loan sharks or gambling debts, Denver police spokeswoman Loretta Beauvais said: "The investigation is ongoing. I'm sure everything is being explored."
She said police have interviewed the second man who was with Running Bear. Police consider him a witness.
Yang, who uses the first name Dave, told police that three men had come by the restaurant looking for him the day before the shooting. Yang was out but his wife told him that the men "were angry and were making threats about killing Dave," the police report stated.
On the day of the shooting, Yang said a man left a threatening message on his cell phone saying "people would be coming to the restaurant to kill him," the police report stated. Yang told police he armed himself with a handgun he keeps at the restaurant.
As Yang was working about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, he said the two men entered and attacked him. Yang told police the tall man choking him was Running Bear, and he had "kicked him out" of the restaurant for being intoxicated the prior week. He said a second man, described as an east Indian male, grabbed him from behind.
Yang, who is 5-foot-2, 140 pounds, said he feared "they would kill him."
"He got his gun out and shot the male choking him," Yang told police. The second man ran from the restaurant.
Running Bear, who was 6 feet tall, 220 pounds, had a history of arrests in Denver on charges of assault, car theft and clashing with police. In April 2009, he was convicted of assault and disturbing the peace. He was also convicted in 2007 of refusing a police order, and in 2002 for assault and disturbing the peace.
The female restaurant worker told investigators that when the east Indian man began talking to Yang, the owner insisted, "I paid your uncle the money." The east Indian man then called someone on his cell phone and handed the phone to Yang, who spoke with whoever was on the other end.
After the worker entered the kitchen, she heard Yang yell, "Do not intimidate me" and "Do not touch me." She stepped back into the dining room and saw Yang yelling at the "tall man."
The worker stepped back into the kitchen and heard a gunshot, according to the police report. She look into the dining room and saw Yang "slightly bent over and pointing toward the ground." She then heard two more shots and saw the east Indian man fleeing the restaurant.
A man eating lunch told police he heard a "pop" and looked up to see a short man extending his arm and heard several more "pops."
After the shooting, the customer recalled Yang saying, "He is a big guy. He came after me."
A decision by prosecutors on whether to file formal charges is expected later this week.
Previous Stories:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21440668/detail.html
This one is kind of muddled. Self-defense? Kind of.
Consorting with criminals regarding illegal activity, kind of.
Reminds me a bit of the anty506 case in Louisiana.
One thing forsure. As usual, HankT's Postulate on Civilian Self-Defense applies...
Yan De Yang is accused of shooting and killing a customer inside his Chopsticks & Sushi Restaurant.
Sushi Bar Owner Says He Killed Man In Self-Defense
Restaurant Worker Said Her Boss Was Being Pressured To Pay Debt
Alan Gathright
POSTED: 1:27 pm MDT October 27, 2009
UPDATED: 5:41 pm MDT October 27, 2009
DENVER -- [/b]A Denver sushi bar owner facing murder charges for gunning down a man in his crowded downtown restaurant last week said he acted in self-defense when two men attacked him.
Yan De Yang, 40, owner of Chopsticks & Sushi, at 1630 Welton St., told police he shot a man who began choking him, while another man held him, according to a police report. Yang said he had run across the man who was choking him before. A week earlier, Yang kicked him out of the restaurant for being drunk.
But a restaurant worker said the dispute was over two men pressuring Yang to pay off a debt, while the owner insisted he had paid back the money.
Yang is being held in jail for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Lloyd Running Bear, 29, who was shot repeatedly in the chest last Thursday, according to an investigator's statement supporting an arrest warrant for Yang.
Asked if police were investigating whether Yang had problems with loan sharks or gambling debts, Denver police spokeswoman Loretta Beauvais said: "The investigation is ongoing. I'm sure everything is being explored."
She said police have interviewed the second man who was with Running Bear. Police consider him a witness.
Yang, who uses the first name Dave, told police that three men had come by the restaurant looking for him the day before the shooting. Yang was out but his wife told him that the men "were angry and were making threats about killing Dave," the police report stated.
On the day of the shooting, Yang said a man left a threatening message on his cell phone saying "people would be coming to the restaurant to kill him," the police report stated. Yang told police he armed himself with a handgun he keeps at the restaurant.
As Yang was working about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, he said the two men entered and attacked him. Yang told police the tall man choking him was Running Bear, and he had "kicked him out" of the restaurant for being intoxicated the prior week. He said a second man, described as an east Indian male, grabbed him from behind.
Yang, who is 5-foot-2, 140 pounds, said he feared "they would kill him."
"He got his gun out and shot the male choking him," Yang told police. The second man ran from the restaurant.
Running Bear, who was 6 feet tall, 220 pounds, had a history of arrests in Denver on charges of assault, car theft and clashing with police. In April 2009, he was convicted of assault and disturbing the peace. He was also convicted in 2007 of refusing a police order, and in 2002 for assault and disturbing the peace.
The female restaurant worker told investigators that when the east Indian man began talking to Yang, the owner insisted, "I paid your uncle the money." The east Indian man then called someone on his cell phone and handed the phone to Yang, who spoke with whoever was on the other end.
After the worker entered the kitchen, she heard Yang yell, "Do not intimidate me" and "Do not touch me." She stepped back into the dining room and saw Yang yelling at the "tall man."
The worker stepped back into the kitchen and heard a gunshot, according to the police report. She look into the dining room and saw Yang "slightly bent over and pointing toward the ground." She then heard two more shots and saw the east Indian man fleeing the restaurant.
A man eating lunch told police he heard a "pop" and looked up to see a short man extending his arm and heard several more "pops."
After the shooting, the customer recalled Yang saying, "He is a big guy. He came after me."
A decision by prosecutors on whether to file formal charges is expected later this week.
Previous Stories:
- October 23, 2009: Sushi Restaurant Owner Arrested In Shooting Death of Customer
- October 22, 2009: Man Shot, Killed Inside Downtown Sushi Restaurant
- October 6, 2009: Fights Break Out At Trendy Denver Sushi Bar
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21440668/detail.html