Uni-Mart Owner Fights Off 2 Would-Be Robbers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - You probably wouldn't think of a coffee pot as a weapon, but sometimes, you have to use what you have.
That's exactly what newly released surveillance video shows during an armed robbery at a local Uni-Mart back on June 13.
The owner of the Uni-Mart on Fifth Avenue, when confronted with the fight or flight dilemma, snapped into fight mode to protect the store and an employee from two would-be robbers.
There was no time to think when two men entered the store, grabbed the clerk and attempted to steal money from the cash register.
"Immediately jumps the counter. This one here has a firearm and the other one is holding her telling her to get the money out of the drawer," Coraopolis Police Captain Ronald Denbow said.
In the seconds the two men were preoccupied with the female clerk, Coraopolis Police said the robbers didn't see the owner filling the ATM with cash in-hand.
Once he saw the gun, the owner grabbed the first thing he could and attacked the robbers.
"The first thing that came to my mind that was in front of me. I say that if we can drop the gun maybe we can save the whole thing," store owner, Bill Eljallad said.
He was successful in knocking the gun away, which turned out to be loaded. He then took the fight outside to chase the two men off.
The gun was left behind and it's believed that the two men were not wearing gloves when they attempted to rob it on June 13.
However, while evidence is processed, Coraopolis Police are hoping someone knows who these two men are.
"That's what we're hoping to get from this. That someone can make a positive ID," Captain Denbow said.
As for the owner, he was pistol-whipped during the ordeal and had to receive staples in his head.
Today, he is hoping the same thing as police, that the men are captured and charged.
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