Food truck owner stabbed, hospitalized after chasing down crook who assaulted elderly woman, stole her belongings



A food truck owner was stabbed and hospitalized after chasing down a male who assaulted an elderly woman and stole her belongings in Long Beach, California, last week.

What are the details?

Bryan Tecun, owner of Bryan’s Birrieria food truck, said he was driving his truck home after a long shift March 11 when he spotted the attack and robbery taking place near Broadway and Pine Avenue, KTLA-TV reported.

“I’ve seen her on the street walking by plenty of times,” Tecun told the station, adding that he immediately rushed over to help her.

“I asked her, ‘What happened?’ as I helped her get up," he added to KTLA. "I saw the [suspect] running. She said, ‘He stole all my stuff!’”

With that, Tecun got back into his truck and chased the suspect, driving about three blocks down Ocean Boulevard before stopping at Lincoln Park, the station reported.

Tecun spotted the suspect near a skate park area and confronted him, KTLA said.

“We had a brief altercation,” Tecun told the station. “While I was getting her belongings back, I felt like my shoulder might have gotten dislocated.”

Police soon arrived and took the suspect into custody, KTLA said, adding that Tecun declined medical attention, got back into his truck, and drove about 15 minutes to his next destination, which was a catering center.

'I had blood on my shirt'

The station said a center security guard asked to look at Tecun’s shoulder after hearing his harrowing story — and they discovered his condition was potentially a lot more serious.

“As I’m taking the black sweater off, he notices I had blood on my shirt,” Tecun recalled to KTLA. “So, I called the ambulance.”

Turns out Tecun had been stabbed twice, the station said, once in the shoulder area and once in the ribcage. KTLA added that he also was bleeding internally.

As a result, Tecun was hospitalized for three days and will need to spend the next month recovering at home, the station said.

Beyond his physical pain, KTLA said Tecon is feeling financial discomfort since he temporarily can't work or pay his two employees.

“I’m just trying to recover and get back out there as soon as possible,” he added to the station.

KTLA said a GoFundMe page has been set up to help Tecun with medical expenses and food truck bills as he recovers.

SoCal food truck owner stabbed while confronting thief who robbed elderly woman youtu.be

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Small-town Texas restaurant gives adults with special needs the opportunity to learn job skills, independent living



A small town restaurant in Texas is making a big difference in the lives of an underserved community: those with special needs.

Beneventi’s Italian restaurant in Mingus, Texas, located about two hours west of Dallas, offers adults with special needs the opportunity to spend some time away from home and learn important job and life skills that may help them transition into independent living.

Jan Underwood, owner of Beneventi's, established the Each & Everyone Foundation in 2010 after she saw the positive impact that vocational training had on her son, Austin. Austin, who has Downs syndrome, received a high school diploma in Texas but couldn't find a program in the state that would help him learn job skills since he struggles with reading and math. However, thanks to a program at Eastern New Mexico University, Austin was able to earn a "vocational degree" in just a year.

And he has put what he has learned to good use. Austin is the proud owner of his own hot dog food truck called Austin's Underdawgs, which has already sold about 50,000 hot dogs, according to Austin's estimates. Austin also owns his own home in Fort Worth.

His mother, meanwhile, has used her experience helping Austin gain his independence to help other adults with "learning differences" do the same. After applying through the Mingus Job Accelerator, participants travel to Mingus to learn how to perform some of the necessary tasks of the food service industry.

"We bring them in, just like any other employee, and we just train them," Underwood recently told Fox News.

"We refuse to compromise on quality in our restaurant," Beneventi's boasts on its website, indicating that program participants are held to high standards like all other employees.

In addition to job skills, program participants also learn independent living. They stay in their own private tiny house during their training, which lasts from one to four weeks. They receive pay for up to four hours of work each day they train.

The cost of the program is $700/week and includes all meals, though trainees are encouraged to practice preparing their own meals in the restaurant kitchen as well.

"I think people with special needs need to learn how to be just like me," said Austin, who introduced Rachel Campos-Duffy and the Fox News audience to his girlfriend, Jenny Stone.

"She makes my heart really nice," Austin said of Jenny. "She's the one for me."

"We're kind of like ... a celebrity couple," Jenny agreed.


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