Darnell J. Wilson

Darnell J. Wilson saved Evangela Stanley from assault, Rochester, New York, December 23, 2019. Stanley, 53, was preparing to close her restaurant and standing in the partially open front door when a 27-year-old man armed with a .40-caliber pistol rushed into the business. Stanley fled and repeatedly screamed for Wilson, 32, fast food clerk, who was inside the restaurant. Wilson saw Stanley flee past him toward a hallway leading to the kitchen and turned to confront the assailant following her. Wilson punched, kicked, and pushed the assailant back toward the front door, where the assailant stumbled onto his back at which point Wilson saw the man’s weapon, which police later determined was loaded with six rounds. Two shots were fired as Wilson struggled with the assailant for control of the weapon. During the struggle, Wilson pushed the assailant through a plate-glass windows and out onto the sidewalk, where the gun was dropped or knocked from the assailant’s hand. Another worker in the rear kitchen, hearing the gunfire, rushed out the front door and joined Wilson, who jumped through the window opening after the assailant. Wilson picked up the gun on the sidewalk and he and the other man chased, punched, and beat the assailant until he struggled free and ran away. The assailant was arrested at a later time and charged with the robbery and possessing the weapon. Stanley was not injured. Wilson was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of multiple lacerations from broken glass, which included a deep cut to his right hand, and cuts to his right torso. His lacerations were repaired at the hospital and he has for the most part recovered, though his right hand has yet to regain its full strength.