Fed-Up Restaurant Owner Foils Armed Robbery in One of the Best Ways: 'I Couldn't Just Stand Here and Watch Him Take My Money

They say "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" — so this restaurant owner didn't. Instead, he armed himself with a pot of scalding hot oil.

On Monday afternoon, the owner of a local corner deli foiled a robbery by hurling a pot of burning oil at an armed robber as the thief attempted to open the cash register, according to NJ.com.

The owner, who reportedly asked not to be identified, said he had often thought of weaponizing cooking oil in such a situation.

"Frankly speaking, I did think, 'If anything happens, I'll throw hot oil on somebody,'" he reportedly said, with a laugh. "But I never thought it would really happen."

Watch a local news clip, courtesy of WABC-TV:

According to NJ.com, an armed assailant entered the corner store at 2:06 PM and pointed a gun at the owner's face. The owner retreated to the back as the robber attempted to open the cash drawer and steal the cash.

That's when the deli owner decided to strike.

The owner grabbed a pot of scalding hot oil and tossed it on the armed robbery.

"It's like 350 degrees," he reportedly said. "I think that got him, he felt the heat, that's when he ran away."

"I couldn't just stand here and watch him take my money," the owner reportedly continued. "We don't rob people to make money. We work 12 to 15 hours a day to put bread on the table."

"That's my hard-earned money," he reportedly added. "We don't make millions of dollars here. It hurts when someone tries to take that."

Police have yet to locate the suspect, but are reviewing surveillance footage in an effort to bring him to justice. They have reportedly alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for any severe burn victims seeking treatment.

Front page image courtesy of NJ.com.

(H/T: NJ.com)

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