ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A bold robber was caught on camera holding up a hotel near Universal Studios late Monday night. However, the clerk was just as bold.

Guests at the Baymont Inn on Major Boulevard (see map) never thought when they checked in they'd want to pin a medal on the clerk at the front desk.

"I think it's wonderful. It's about time," hotel guest David Mears said. "I know he put himself in a bad position, but good for him."

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The hotel's security camera caught the clerk in action, facing down an armed robber.

Just before midnight, a man with a black t-shirt over his face pulled a pistol and demanded cash. But less than 20 seconds into the holdup, the clerk grabbed the bandit's gun and shot at him. He missed and the suspect got away with the money, but police say he left behind plenty of evidence.

Police are hoping to use the robber's gun to hunt him down. The gun and a shell casing are being examined. Detectives do not believe the clerk's fingerprints will necessarily spoil any other evidence on the gun.

"The weapon itself will be processed. Somebody obviously had it in their hands to hold it up to the clerk," Sergeant Barbara Jones of the Orlando Police Department said. "Shell casings. That was put in. Who loaded them in? So, that piece right there is evidence."

Orlando police swarmed the area, but the robber and a man detectives believe was driving the getaway car disappeared. About 90 minutes later, police came across a car that fit the description and, when they tried to pull it over, the driver rammed a police cruiser.

Two 25-year-old men were arrested, Alphonso McFarland and Marcus Mincey (Arrest Affidavits: Mincey | McFarland). Officers found a stolen gun and drugs, but detectives do not believe those suspects were involved in the hotel holdup.

The bold clerk did not want to talk about his ordeal. Police say his timing had to be perfect to snatch the robber's gun.

"But, it could have gone the other way. In grabbing the gun, depends on where the finger is on the trigger. We could have been working a homicide there involving the clerk at the front desk," Jones said.

McFarland is charged with attempted murder of an officer for slamming his vehicle into the officer’s car. The suspects involved in the hotel robbery attempt remain at large.