Local

Customer kicks knife out of robber's hand, chases him from store

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A quick-thinking customer at an Orlando 7-Eleven stopped an armed robbery by kicking a knife out of the crook's hand and chasing him out of the store with a wine bottle.

The good Samaritan's actions helped thwart a robbery at the 7-Eleven on South Orange Avenue just after 2 a.m. Thursday.

Surveillance cameras captured the whole confrontation on video.

In the surveillance video, the crook with a white bandana covering his face walks into the convenience store and pulls out a knife and demands cash from the clerk and a customer.

But as soon as he does, the customer steps back and grabs a wine bottle from the shelf and then kicks the knife out of the crook's hand.

The customer then chases him out of the store while the clerk calls 911.

The customer did not want to be identified, but he told WFTV the details of what happened.

"I know he wasn't kidding because he came after me," said the customer. "I ain't going to let that dude stab me, so I am like, 'Boom!'"

"A lot of people would call you crazy because this guy had a knife," said WFTV reporter Tim Barber.

"It is what it is. You know what I am saying? You don't think about it at the time because he's like, 'Yo, robbing the place give me all your money,' and I am like, 'Are you serious?'" the customer said.

WFTV checked archives and found out the same 7-Eleven was robbed by a man with a knife last month, but that time, the crook got away with cigarettes and all the money in the cash register.

This time, thanks to the customer, the robber ran away empty-handed.

Police said other customers were inside the store at the time of the robbery. No one was injured.

WFTV learned that the same store was robbed by a man with a knife last month, but no word whether there is a connection to the recent attempted robbery.