Convenience Store Clerk Manveer Komer Saves Kidnapping Victim

While Asian American convenience store workers are parodied in portrayals like Apu in The Simpsons, Manveer Komer displayed tremendous bravery and in rescuing a kidnapped doctor in Philadelphia.  On his late night shift, Komer noticed odd behavior from a woman who kidnapper Nathaniel Rodriguez said was his girlfriend.   Komer physically put himself between her and the kidnapper and told her that he would help her.

The doctor had earlier been threatened with a weapon that Rodriquez claimed that he possessed.  He then forced her withdraw money from various ATMs.  After the woman was rescued by Komer, Rodriguez drove off in her car.  He was later tracked down because he had turned on her cell phone, which was used to track him.

The trope about Asian store owners and workers ignores the fact that working as a late night convenience store worker a dangerous and thankless job that gets special mention in police guides.  I think was he particularly brave because unlike Mayura Dissanayake, he didn’t seemed like someone trained in combat.