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May 9, 2008 6:44 pm US/Central
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2 Men Turn Tables On Would-Be Store Robber
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
Two victims turned the tables on a would be-robber in Minneapolis Thursday night.
It happened around 11:30 p.m. at Wally's Corner Market near the University of Minnesota. The store is located on the corner of 16th and Como Avenues in Southeast Minneapolis.
Wally's Corner Market is the kind of place where everyone's familiar.
"We're very friendly and almost everybody here is friendly to us too, " said store co-owner Nael Banat.
They'd never had real trouble until Thursday night. Banat and his employee Tyler Orvis were getting ready to close.
"All of a sudden out of nowhere, some guy just came in through the door with a gun drawn and his face covered up with a blue bandana or something, " said Orvis.
"Just screaming and yelling saying, you know, 'If you don't get down I'm gonna shoot you,'" said Banat.
The man demanded Orvis open the register. While the robber was grabbing the money and cartons of cigarettes, Banat got a closer look at the gun.
"It looked it was a fake gun," said Banat.
So Banat decided to fight back and grabbed a piece of wood he kept as a weapon.
"I just stood up and went for his head, I smacked on his head," said Banat.
The disoriented robber tried to get away, but Banat and Orvis wrestled with him. They ended up on the ground just outside the door, but the robber didn't give up.
"His head was right here and he ended up biting me on the back pretty bad, " said Orvis as he pulled up his shirt to show a red and purple bit mark.
While the struggle was going on inside the store, a neighbor saw it and called police. When the struggle ended up outside the store, two other people came to help hold the robber down.
Banat is grateful his neighbors stepped in to help, but he doesn't think working at the store will be the same. He thinks he may fight back again depending on the situation.
"It's what your mind and body tells you at that moment what to do," said Banat.
Police said they arrested 41-year-old Rodney Anderson for suspicion of robbery. He also had an outstanding warrant from Ramsey County for drinking in public.
Banat and Orvis also said they recognized him from previous shoplifting attempts in the store.
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