Holly MatkinYuma, AZ – A quick-thinking U.S. Marine Corps veteran singlehandedly thwarted a gas station holdup early Wednesday morning, security footage showed (video below).
The incident occurred inside the Chevron station located at 10747 E. North Frontage Road at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) said in a press release.
Security footage released by the sheriff’s office showed a customer chatting with someone behind the service counter as two masked suspects barged into the business just feet behind him.
As the customer casually turned away from the counter and stepped towards the doors, he glanced over and spotted one of the suspects pointing a gun, the video showed.
Without so much as a pause, the customer immediately snapped his left hand out and grabbed the gunman’s firearm, then held onto the suspect and hit him in the side of the head with his bag of purchases still gripped in his right hand.
As he scuffled with the masked gunman, the second suspect scurried out the door to join up with a third masked suspect standing just outside the open doorway, the video showed.
“The other two suspects fled the area when they witnessed their fellow criminal stopped,” the YCSO said in the press release. “The customer was able to detain the suspect he disarmed until law enforcement arrived.”
When deputies spoke with the customer to ask him how he was able to take such swift control of the potentially deadly situation, he told them he is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
“The Marine Corp taught me not to [mess] around,” he said, according to the YCSO.
Deputies determined the gunman was a juvenile and booked him into the Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center on aggravated assault and armed robbery charges.
The other two suspects remain at large.
No injuries were reported as a result of the attempted holdup.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content:
Check this out — #Yuma #Arizona Marine thwarts attempted armed robbery by literally grabbing the gun, and taking control of the situation.
He stated: “The Marine Corp taught me not to [mess] around.” pic.twitter.com/aDWdi2w7W3
— Blake Keller WNEM (@blakekellertv) October 21, 2021
