Gun-toting Good Samaritan saves the day after robber pistol-whips Family Dollar clerk and grabs cash, police say

Police said a gun-toting Good Samaritan saved the day after a robber pistol-whipped a Florida Family Dollar clerk and grabbed cash last week, WPLG-TV reported.

What are the details?

Fort Lauderdale police said 20-year-old Nicolas Richard Lee Deas and another man walked up to the store in the 1900 block of NW Ninth Ave. in the city’s Lauderdale Manors neighborhood around 10 p.m. Sept. 13 as the clerk was closing the store, the station noted.

Deas claimed he left his cell phone inside the store, so the clerk opened the door in effort to help, WPLG reported, citing police.

However, police said Deas pointed a stolen gun at the clerk and told him, “Give me the money, or I will kill you," the station said.

Police said the employee took the pair to the safe and Deas’ accomplice filled a bag with about $1,200, WPLG said, adding that the police report states that Deas pistol-whipped the worker in the back of the neck and in the elbow.

The tables soon turn

The station, citing the police report, said a man closing his own business in the shopping center noted that he heard what was happening and went inside the Family Dollar.

Police said the business owner saw Deas holding a gun and then took out his own gun and ordered Deas to drop his weapon and get on the ground, WPLG reported, adding that Deas did just that.

While the other suspect got away, the police report said the business owner who intervened kept Deas on the ground until officers arrived and arrested him, the station said.

What happened next?

Deas was jailed without bond on charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, grand theft of a firearm, and illegally carrying a concealed firearm, WPLG reported.

The station said the arrest report doesn’t identify the suspected accomplice, and it’s not clear if he’s been located as of Friday or if he got away with the cash.

Anyone with information is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

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