| Greensboro News & Record February 25, 1994 KUNG FU FIGHTERS FOIL MUGGER'S ATTACK A CHANGE IN LUCKAuthor: LINN THOMAS High Point Bureau Edition: ALLSection: GENERAL NEWS Page: A1 Estimated printed pages: 2 Article Text: A High Point mugger chose the wrong place Wednesday to rob a woman. Nellie Lowe Lee has been so down on her luck lately that it took a mugging to prove that maybe, just maybe, things might be looking up for her. On Wednesday night, a young man tried to rob Lee, a 49-year-old stroke victim, as she walked home along Vail Avenue in High Point. But the mugger picked the wrong place - right behind Tran's Martial Arts & Gym.The 1993 state champion kick boxer, Ronnie Copeland, 20, and another kung fu student, Brett Westmoreland, 18, had just dressed for their nightly run. The two heard Lee's cries for help, ran out the back door of the gym and chased the attacker away. "I appreciate them risking themselves to help me," Lee said Thursday, her voice still raspy from screaming. "It scared me so bad, I thought I would have a heart attack."The mugger wouldn't have gotten much - four packs of generic-brand cigarettes and $15. But for Lee, that's a lot.For the past two years, she and her daughter have lived on disability payments in Elm Towers, federally-assisted housing for the elderly and disabled on South Elm Street. A former cafeteria worker, Lee was disabled by a mild stroke in 1991. Out of cigarettes and feeling blue, Lee walked to the drugstore in the rain just before 8 p.m. On the way back, a young man in his 20s grabbed her from behind and started groping in her pockets.When the kung fu fighters rushed toward them, the mugger punched Lee in the chest and took off empty-handed. "Instinct took over," said Copeland, who works part time in a furniture warehouse and aspires to be the world kick-boxing champion. "I remember thinking one time while I was running, 'What if this guy has a knife or a gun?' I was just like, 'Well, I'll deal with it.' "Caption: Copyright 1994 Greensboro News & Record |