Fresno police are hailing 58-year-old resident Cregg Jerri for his courage in the face of a Starbucks robbery last week.
Ryan Michael Flores, 30, was sent to a local hospital last Thursday after he was bashed over the head with a Starbucks chair and stabbed with his own knife inside the Fresno establishment. He was arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon shortly after a struggle with Mr. Jerri.
“It was incredibly heroic and the way most people would think that they would respond but may not have the courage to respond,” Chief Jerry Dyer said during a press conference, a CBS affiliate from San Francisco reported Saturday.
Surveillance video released by the business shows Mr. Flores pointing a knife and fake gun at a clerk. His “Transformers” mask is knocked off moments later when a chair comes crashing down on his head.
Mr. Jerri was stabbed in the neck during the ensuing fight, but he eventually wrestled the weapon away and used it in self-defense.
Mr. Flores fled the Starbucks and was apprehended by police at a nearby canal, The Fresno Bee reported July 20.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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