Deputies: Attempted robber gets beat down from clerk
MELBOURNE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A Melbourne man is being held in the Orange County Jail, after workers were able to stop an armed robbery with some of their own muscle.
When deputies arrived to the gas station, workers had the suspect held down. They say it was the second place he tried to rob in the same night. It all started just before midnight, when deputies said the suspect threatened store clerk Din Mohammad with a gun.
"Only I seen the eyes," said Mohammad. "He has gun, pocket is full. So I think so he has a gun."
Mohammad said the man demanded money.
"Hurry up, hurry up! I'll shoot you!"
Mohammad said he tried to reason with the thief, showing him that he only had a few dollars.
"I said to him, 'Hey boss I have no money. "
But that's when the suspect made his move.
"He jumping, take my money. I scared, I scared."
Before the suspect came inside, another worker outside saw him put his mask on before it all went down. When that worker walked in, he distracted the robber.
"He looking there I catch him," explained employee Ramon Rivera-Morales.
He said he wanted to help his boss. Deputies arrested 60-year-old Jeffery Meyer of Melbourne. He's charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon.
Deputies said Meyer used a broken glass bottle in his pocket to pretend he had a gun. They say there were also pills in his pocket, they said. As for the makeshift weapon Mohammad used to protect himself?
"Nut opener, but it's broke. For protection.Yea, protection!"
Mohammad said he called 911 with one hand as he held down the suspect with the other.