A Fresno, California, man has been hailed as a hero for taking down an armed robber at his local Starbucks using nothing but his wits and a metal chair.
“There’s probably not very many people in America who would do what Cregg Jerri did,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said after the incident, according to KGPE-TV. “It was incredibly heroic.”
Jerri, 58, had popped into the Starbucks on Thursday evening, and had been savoring his drink and using his iPad when the would-be robber, wearing a Transformers mask, entered the coffee shop.
Surveillance footage captured what happened next. The masked man approached the counter and threatened staff with a fake gun and a large knife. Video shows Jerri getting up from his seat and grabbing a metal chair before walking over to the counter and slamming the chair into the man’s back.
In the ensuing scuffle between Jerri and the suspect, both men were reportedly stabbed with the knife. The suspect fled the scene and was later arrested. Police have identified the man as 30-year-old Ryan Michael Flores.
According to The Fresno Bee, Jerri required a “few staples” to close a neck wound he received in the fight, while Flores had to be hospitalized for his injuries.
While praising Jerri for his quick action, Dyer stressed that he would not recommend other people follow in his footsteps.
“In this case, it was a good outcome. No one died as a result of this incident, but [someone] very well could have,” the police chief said.
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