There are a few things that even the dumbest criminal should know not to do, like commit an armed robbery at a donut place. You have to know the police are going to be coming by at some point, right?

I kid, of course, but the underlying point is that some places aren’t conducive to criminal activity, like a gun store.

Or, you know, chasing your alleged kidnapping victim into a karate dojo.

Police said August Williams, 46, is accused of following a woman into a karate school on Statesville Avenue after he attempted to snatch her just before 9 p.m.

“He was just punching at everything from walls to cars, everything,” said Randall Ephraim, sensei at Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo.

Once Williams got inside, police said an instructor fended him off and he ran out of the studio. Williams was later taken into custody.

Ephraim was able to get control of Williams, but he said it wasn’t easy.

“He was very strong – very, very strong, he said. “He weighed at least 200 (pounds) and some change, under the influence — very strong powerful individual.”

Williams had to be transported to the hospital due to his injuries before his all expenses paid trip to the gray-bar hotel.

Frankly, the guy sounds like he was mentally unstable, which is why it was probably a good thing the woman was able to enter someplace like a karate school. I somehow doubt it would have ended well for her otherwise.

Now, I suspect I’ll start seeing some comments about how she should have been armed (which is a fair point) or how karate doesn’t work on the streets (not a completely wrong point either). But there’s something to keep in mind here. Bushiken Karate Charlotte Dojo teaches a full-contact form of karate. That means students and instructors have experience keeping calm in the midst of an altercation.

That gives them a big edge on most people they face, regardless of what UFC 1 may have shown.

I’m of the belief that any full-contact fighting system will benefit you in a hand-to-hand confrontation to varying degrees. This is certainly supporting evidence of that.

Luckily, this all worked out well in the end. More support for the idea that resisting an attack is usually the very best option possible. In this case, running was the best the woman could do, and it served her well. I’m sure this was horrific for her, but I’m glad that, in the end, she was able to go home at the end of the day safe and sound.

Here are some things to take away from this, at least in my opinion.

1. Learning some form of hand-to-hand combat system that is full-contact isn’t a waste of time for anyone, even if you routinely carry a firearm. Under these circumstances, you may well have found yourself prosecuted for using a gun, but beating the snot out of the guy? Fully justified.
2. Ladies, you need to carry a firearm. Nothing is empowering about being a disarmed victim. I don’t care what modern feminism is trying to sell. If you want to be safe, it’s on you to make sure of that. Carry a gun.
3. Resistance is almost always preferable to passivity in the face of a violent criminal. In this case, running was the best she could do, and it worked. It worked because she found good people who weren’t afraid to get violent in return, but that’s OK. She still resisted and is safe because of it.

At the end of the day, though, I’m just glad that one alleged criminal is off the streets. Let’s hope he stays there.