3-30-2007

By now I'm willing to bet you are familiar with the case of Chester Yeom. A few weeks ago, Yeom offered to help out a church friend by covering for a few hours at the Belmont Market. During those few hours, someone burst into the store, robbed the place and then shot Yeom. The bullet lodged in his spinal column leaving him paralyzed and unable to speak audibly.

Since then, officers arrested James Kashi in the crime ... he appeared, briefly, in court on Friday facing several charges including robbery and attempted murder. Kashi pleaded not guilty and will now face a courtroom once more in late April for a formal trial.

After the proceedings were concluded, I spent some time visiting with members of the community who have been helping the family.

In the US Bankcorp Tower (where the Yeom family restaurant "Plaza Teriyaki" resides on the ground floor) fellow store owners feel like a permanent cloud has moved into the area. They say the building is like a big family and the tragic incident has touched every one there.

Meanwhile, in the Belmont neighborhood, people are trying to move forward in a positive way. Most store counters have identical white boxes featuring a picture of Yeom before the shooting and request any financial help one can offer. Clerks are not concerned of another shooting, claiming the incident in early March that paralyzed Yeom was random and insist they live in a safe, friendly neighborhood.

Finally, the Yeom family does their best to cope with the circumstances. I had a chance to talk with Tiffany Yeom (Chester Yeom's wife) as well as Dave Kim (his close friend for decades). While Yeom struggles to speak, Kim says his buddy continues to fight thanks to his religious beliefs and his faith (actually going so far as to shoo visiting family members away when it is time for church).

Tiffany Yeom's biggest concern is making sure this type of violence never happens to anyone again. Even with word that police have a suspect in custody, she says she has no anger.

Kim says the families medical bills are skyrocketing every day. Yeom remains in ICU though they hope to move him to a general hospital room soon. After that, he will have to live in a special care facility (most likely for the rest of his life). While no dollar figure has been confirmed, Kim expects his friends medical expenses to easily exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Donations to the family can be made through any US Bank.