Community unites to support crime victim

By Lavi Ben-Dor and K.C. McConnell, Convergence Editor and News Editor

1988 Conestoga graduate Mark Morroney, the general manager at Yang’s Farmers Market in Berwyn and a close personal friend of its owner, remembers the night of Jan. 18 as being particularly chilly. Yong Yang, who has owned the market for 23 years, had parked his truck next to the front door and was closing up for the night at around 6:30 p.m.

Morroney said he warmed up his car in the parking lot and then drove away, leaving Yang to lock the front door—something completely routine. What happened next, however, was completely unexpected.

At first, “Mr. Yang thought it was a joke,” Morroney said. “He was approached by the two when he was already in his van. It was shut. They actually opened the door and pulled him out of the van.”

Yang recognized one of his attackers as he came toward the truck.

“I said, ‘I know you, get out of here, go home. Please!’” Yang said.

But that night, the two teenagers went on to violently attack and rob Yang.

A brutal crime

Mr. Yang is the owner of Yang’s Farmers Market in Berwyn. Luke Rafferty/The SPOKE

The police arrived at Yang’s Farmers Market shortly after he called them at around 6:57 p.m. Yang reported that he had been approached by two young men while he was sitting in his van. One of them reportedly got into the van, started waving a knife and then punched Yang in the face, breaking his glasses. The robbers stole Yang’s wallet, including  $540.

Yang’s left eye was badly injured during the attack, though he refused treatment at the scene. He later went to the hospital and had surgery on his left eye. Easttown Police Lieutenant Scott Albee used videotape from a s

ecurity camera in the parking garage attached to Yang’s building to identify suspects 18-year-old Octavio Sandoval and 17-year-old Sean Mitten, who is being tried as an adult.

With Morroney’s help, Yang was able to recognize Sandoval as one of the robbers, since he had worked at Yang’s Farmers Market for about a week in the spring of 2011. Sandoval used to be a Conestoga student, but has since transferred to another school.“I’m an ex-’Stoga graduate so I was happy to hear he was going [to Conestoga]. He was cordial, he was a little quiet, but then again he did speak and communicate well. And I’d have to say I knew him, in a way,” Morroney said. “I knew him by first name. I have his name on the wall in case I needed help. We tried him out for a week. It didn’t work out and we let him go.”

Albee reported that the Easttown Police Force was able to locate the suspects within four days of the robbery.

“Thanks to the community for their participation,” Albee said. Without them, “we wouldn’t have been able to [find the suspects] in four days.”

Rallying community

Yang’s attack and subsequent hospitalization did not go unnoticed by his fellow Berwyn business owners. Stacey Ballard of Eadeh Enterprises and 1988 Conestoga graduate Kim Cuthbert of Sweet Jazmine’s Bakery heard about the attack and that insurance had not covered all of Yang’s medical bills. They then decided to raise funds to support Yang because they understood that his medical expenses and absence from work would hurt him financially.

“We knew his business was going to be affected,” Cuthbert said. “As a small business, we could relate to that, and on top of that, [we asked,] ‘What can we do? How can we try to ease his load a little bit?’”

Conestoga graduate and Sweet Jazmines owner Kim Cuthbert has helped raise funds for Mr. Yang. Lavi Ben-Dor/The SPOKE

Ballard and Cuthbert decided to each ask ten area businesses to donate $100 to try to raise $2,000. Sweet Jazmine’s also contributed by holding bake sales, in which the bakery would sell one special item every day. All of the proceeds from that item would go towards Yang’s recovery. The effort had raised almost $20,000 as of Feb. 9.

“We’ve been thrilled—people are still coming in and dropping off just donations, not really into the bake sale,” Cuthbert said. “It’s just a lot of people coming to help someone who has been done an injustice. We’ve more than exceeded our initial plan for what we were going to do, and the momentum is just continuing.”

Several other local businesses, including Aneu Bistro in Berwyn are working together to raise money for Yang. Mark Gaines, the general manager at Aneu Bistro, said that the distress felt by the community was what prompted the planning of a charity event.

“Everybody was shocked in disbelief,” Gaines said. “We’re all actually planning a benefit for him as we speak.”

Berwyn Glass owner Douglas Kirschner was one of the local business owners who originally had the idea for the Aneu Bistro benefit dinner. Kirschner, who has owned his shop in Berwyn since 1976, said that he got the idea for the benefit when he heard about Yang’s medical bills. Fifty percent of the profits from the benefit dinner will go to helping Yang pay off those bills.

Kirschner said that he thought one reason the community took such an interest in Yang’s situation was because of the brutality of the attack. Kirschner also attributes the strong community response to Yang’s positive presence in Berwyn.

The community has rallied around Yang to help him recover. Graphic Anisa Tavangar/The SPOKE

“I’m just happy that everybody is coming to the table and who wants to help Mr. Yang,” Kirschner said. “He has just been a real pillar of the community. He helps everybody who walks in the store. He’s just a wonderful man, and his produce is always first class—he doesn’t skimp anywhere.”

Morroney said that there have not only been charitable responses from local businesses, but from ordinary customers as well.

There’s been a “huge outpouring [from the community]. Everybody’s coming in with checks,” Morroney said. “It’s our clientele, but it’s not just our clientele that’s coming in here. There’s people that haven’t been in [the store] for years or people that have never been to the store that have contributed.”

Conestoga joins effort

Some students at Conestoga took notice of Yang’s ordeal. Senior Stetson Miller, who lives and works near the market, was taken aback by the robbery.

“We sometimes go [to Yang’s Farmers Market] because I live very close,” Miller said. “I was shocked because I never thought that something that awful could happen that close to home.”

Some clubs at Conestoga have responded to the violent robbery by joining the community in helping Yang. ’Stoga baking club Sweet Swap decided to help support Yang after members of the club heard about the attack. The group held a bake sale on Feb. 13, and all proceeds went to help Yang in his recovery.

Liu said that she hopes Conestoga’s contribution to the support effort will greatly benefit Conestoga and the area.

“It’ll bring more awareness to what’s going on around our community, and it’ll also help change the way people are thinking a little,” she said. “It shows we’re all active within our community, and we share a lot of care and respect for other members.”

Junior Jenny Liu, a member of ’Stoga club T/E Kids Care, said her club worked with Sweet Swap to increase awareness of the attack and promote the bake sale. She said that she is proud of Conestoga’s effort to help Yang.

“I think it’s good that we are trying to help him, and it’s important, because he really needs people to care about him right now,” Jenny Liu said. “It shows we care.”
Overcoming an attack

Morroney believes that the attack struck an intimate chord with the T/E community. He said that the sheer violence of the attack on Yang may have made citizens of Berwyn and its surrounding areas more wary of their surroundings.

“I think if it struck any paranoia in the community, I don’t blame them. I’m doing the same thing at night when I’m walking out the door,” Morroney said. “You can’t help but change a little bit [and] get a little more on-guard.”

Jenny Liu said that the incident both serves as an eye-opener for locals and will unite them to support a valued member of the T/E community.

“It opens our eyes to realize that things like this do happen, even though we’re on the Main Line,” Jenny Liu said. “It will bring people together to help someone in need.”

“I love Berwyn. I love my store,” Yang said. “This here is a really good section.”

Lavi Ben-Dor can be reached at lbendor@stoganews.com.