On Sunday, Nov. 12, business owners Fernando Anaya and his wife, Elizabeth “Ely” Garcia, found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and the victims of a terrifying incident that still has them reeling.
That morning was like every morning, Anaya said. The pair got up and started out on their supply run to Chicago. Not only does Anaya have family in the city, but he and Ely often make regular trips to get supplies for their Mexican restaurant, Fernando’s Place, in downtown Kewanee.
“Normally that’s what we do is every year or half, depending on how fast supplies go away,” he said.
Anaya said most of the supply stores they shop at are cash in hand, and many don’t allow debit or credit cards. Even if they did, Anaya said the couple have always paid with cash to avoid the card fees. And it’s never been a problem until last Sunday.
Once in Chicago, around 1 or 2 pm, they stopped at Restaurant Depot and were loading supplies into the back of their pickup truck when a man approached them, demanding their money and personal items.
Anaya, who said he wasn’t immediately alarmed, questioned the man as to why he wanted his money. The man drew a gun and pointed it at his chest and it was at that moment the business owner understood the gravity of their situation.
Without thinking, Anaya took out his wallet and handed it to the man, but when he requested from the assailant that he be able to keep his driver’s license, the mugger pointed his gun at Anaya’s head and using an expletive, told Anaya to keep his mouth shut.
The thief then demanded Ely’s backpack and again, Ely requested to be able to take her medication from the bag. The armed man turned his gun at Ely, and Anaya, wishing to protect his wife, tried to calm the situation.
“I told him to leave Ely alone because she doesn’t have money,” he said.
With that, the man repeated to Anaya to shut up, and pointed the gun at his head again.
It was at this time that Anaya noticed the man’s attention turning towards his truck and trailer, but using reason and logic with the assailant, Anaya was able to convince the thief that taking his truck with a trailer attached was a sure fire way to get caught, especially if the man had never pulled a trailer before.
“I think my angel guard was working overtime,” Anaya said, “because he left.”
With Anaya’s wallet and Ely’s backpack in his possession, the assailant turned and began to walk away. Anaya followed behind him, recording the man on his camera phone. When the man noticed Anaya’s pursuit, he turned, aiming the gun at him again, before demanding Anaya go back and lay flat on the ground. Then the armed man turned around and headed towards a vehicle.
Instead of obeying the armed thief’s orders, Anaya ran and found a place to hide. He recorded the black-clad man getting into a vehicle and was even able to record the plate number, which he later gave to the Chicago Police Department.
After he left, Anaya called 9-1-1. When a patrolman arrived on the scene, Anaya was able to provide him with a description of the car, the license plate number and even point the officer in the direction of the robber’s getaway. When another officer arrived on the scene, the Kewanee couple gave him their statements.
The ride home was spent in stony silence, Anaya recalled. The couple were in shock and didn’t know what to say to each other about their experience. They would usually be listening to music and having a conversation, but the couple couldn’t find any words.
“We didn’t say one word all the way to Kewanee,” he said.
Since the incident, they have both been struggling with trauma, he said.
The couple steered clear of discussing the armed robbery for several days, both trying to emotionally process the traumatic experience, but a few days later, when they did talk openly, they both admitted the entire thing didn’t seem real.
“We were both feeling like it was a bad dream,” he said.
He admits that the incident has changed them.
“Now when we leave the restaurant to go home, we’re looking around. If I’m getting in my car, I am looking around,” said Anaya.
Anaya said he’s gone through a gamut of emotions from shock to fear to even anger at himself for allowing it to happen. He’s even thought about taking self defense classes so if anything like that ever happens again, he can be prepared.
“I hope that it never happens again. If I knew what to do, I could have maybe jumped him.”
But most experts would tell Anaya, he did the right thing in giving the thief what he wanted. Anaya said he watched the news closely over the weekend, and he and Ely weren’t the only victims of robbery in Chicago that weekend. In robbery incidents all around the Chicago area, 15 people were shot for refusing to give the assailants their cash, and five people died, he said.
“So I am glad I didn’t see that before this happened,” he said, adding that the experience continues to play out in his mind and sometimes when he’s taking an order, his hands will start to shake.
“I am sure people see me as normal. The problem is on the inside,” he said.
Saturday, Nov. 18 was Anaya’s birthday. On Sunday, they planned to return to Chicago and visit the CPD to get an update on their case. Ely’s brand new phone was taken and when Anaya used a locator app, the phone pinged at the Chicago Police Department. The couple hopes to be able to retrieve it.
Besides dealing with the emotional and psychological fallout from the robbery, Anaya has had to deal with the financial fallout as well. Between the two of them, they were carrying $9,000 in cash and emergency funds that were hidden away in the wallet and backpack.
Canceling their credit cards and bank cards and replacing his driver’s license have all added to Anaya’s stress, but in spite of everything, Anaya said he’s not bitter and refuses to hate the man who held a gun to his head.
“I already have forgiven him for what he did, but I want him caught so he can’t do that to someone else,” he said. “I feel sorry for them. Their lives must be miserable to do that, but I can’t hate him.”
Anaya has been honest with his customers on his social media page about what happened to him and Ely in Chicago and many have reached out to him to offer help, but Anaya said he’s never been comfortable taking money.
“The best way you can support us is to come eat at our restaurant. I don’t like asking for help. The $9,000, it hurts,” he said. “It’s months of hard work. But I am glad we’re safe and alive.”
