New York sushi restaurant owner wakes up from coma after being robbed for $425 bill

The owner of an Albany sushi restaurant is slowly showing signs of recovery after a brutal attack outside his restaurant last month.

Su Wen, owner and chef at Shogun Sushi in upstate New York, has emerged from a nearly two-week coma and is experiencing increasing periods of consciousness, said Ray Ren, one of his restaurant’s managers.

The father of two was attacked on May 29 by a customer who allegedly tried to run away after a $425 meal, NBC affiliate WNYT reported. A security camera caught several employees trying to stop the man, who then beat them. Su Wen, whose family did not reveal his last name for fear of retaliation from the attacker, was hit the hardest.

During the altercation, he was knocked to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness. He was taken to a local hospital, where doctors had to temporarily remove part of his skull, Ren said. A GoFundMe campaign organized by neighboring tavern owner Chris Pratt has raised over $13,000.

In the hours after the attack, 42-year-old Lucas Healey of Albany was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery as a hate crime, third-degree assault, theft of services and two counts of drug possession for possession of cocaine, police said. Requests for comment from Healey’s public defender were not returned and attempts to reach family members were unsuccessful.

Ray Ren, a manager at Shogun Sushi, told NBC News that his boss had woken up from a coma since his hospital visit on Tuesday. In a message relayed through Pratt, he said Su Wen had been moved from the intensive care unit to general care and was “out of danger.”

“At the moment he does not seem to be able to speak or move his body on his own,” the manager said. “I am not sure if he has lost his memory or other abilities; we will have to wait for the doctor’s examination to know more. … Currently he is still dependent on nutritional solutions and is mostly bedridden. But at least his periods of consciousness have become longer.”

Su Wen still cannot eat on his own and will likely remain in the hospital until his skull is sewn back on, Ren said. Pratt said on his GoFundMe page that Su Wen’s wife also had to quit her job to care for him.

“All I know is that it could have been one of my coworkers,” Pratt said in his GoFundMe description. “The whole thing is disgusting.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.