Diner Robbery Attempt Caught-On-Tape
Airdate
:
2/16/2009
A suspicious-looking guy in sunglasses walked into a diner in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and tried to get away with robbery.
Every dramatic moment of what happened next was captured on camera.
The man asked waitress Liz Padilla for change, but when she opened the cash drawer, he lunged toward it.
He grabbed a handful of money, but out of nowhere, a customer confronted him.
As they struggled, other customers and even cooks from the kitchen, joined in.
Meanwhile, Padilla called 9-1-1.
Liz Padilla: "I have some guys holding him, but could you hurry?"
911 Operator: "What's going on there?"
Liz Padilla: "He tried to rob the register."
Minutes later, an Albuquerque cop arrived with his gun drawn...but it was more like a rescue than an arrest for the would-be-thief.
"I was scared, but I didn't want him to get away with it," said Padilla.
The hero who first confronted the alleged robber is a retired Air Force major, Randy, who eats breakfast at the Garcia's Kitchen every morning.
"I've spent 30 years defending the country, [did] a couple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq...it's kind of easy defending a restaurant when you've done that," said Randy.
"Thank you Randy, thank you for being here, you did a good job," Padilla said.
28-year-old Nathan Cheshire has been charged with robbery.
