Buddhist monks used coat hanger in defense after armed gang stormed NYC temple, urge bungling thieves to ‘give up’ crime
Buddhist monks defended themselves with a coat hanger – and their own “stay calm” philosophy – when armed goons stormed their Brooklyn temple in a pathetic heist that netted them a measly few hundred bucks.
Despite the ordeal that four monks at Watt-Samakki-Dhammikaram temple in Flatbush faced at the hands of five low-rent thieves on Sunday, they only wish the callous crew will some day change their criminal ways.
“I want to send a message that we do love and kindness for all the people who do good and who do bad,” Suthea Kong told The Post Monday, a day after the low-yield heist.
“We want them to give up all the bad things in daily life,” Kong added. “You have to work. You have to find money appropriately in daily life.”
The thieves were decked out in ski masks and dark clothing when they burst open the backdoor of the temple around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, then raced inside with a handgun and long knife, monks told The Post.
The goons rummaged through the communal living space upstairs — which woke up four monks who were having afternoon naps, Kong said.
Monk Channoeun Poun, 43, was the first out, and demanded the gang leave.
“He said, ‘Go out!’ but they came up to him and one of them had a knife,” said Kong, the only member of the Cambodian-based group who speaks English.
“They pointed it behind his back and told him to go back to his bed and lie down and go to sleep. Don’t move.”
The thugs then shook down Poun, snatching $60 in cash and a pair of cellphones from the folds of his robes, before pocketing less than $200 they found rifling through the bedroom of 40-year-old monk Kalyan Yoeun.
But when they tried to lay hands on an elderly monk, the man grabbed a coat hanger and parried their advances.
“He tried to protect himself. He said, ‘If you come, I will hit you,’” Kong said.
“And the guy went away.”
On their way out the bandits cracked open a donations box and snagged under $100 in crumpled cash — small change the modest monks use to keep the lights on and the phone hooked up in their temple, according to Kong.
In all, the crooks made off with no more than $360 for their unholy efforts.
Despite the callous crime, Kong said he and the others are not dwelling on the crooks’ misdeeds..
“It was disappointing that they acted like that,” Kong said. “But when they ask us ‘Are you hating them?’ I explain that a Buddhist man tries to stay calm in all situations, good or bad. That is the rule of the Buddhist man.”
In the meantime, no arrests have been made in the heist, according to police.
