Former Rare Staff
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A security camera captured the moment a robber quickly learned that Tony’s Breakfast in Washington, D.C. would be no easy target.
An unidentified man was lingering in line in the early hours of a Tuesday morning, waiting for the perfect opportunity to rob the take-out restaurant. He thought he saw his moment when a cashier was handling money in the register. He reached over the counter and grabbed the cash tray.
That was a mistake.
Four women, including the cashier, began to hit the robber with anything they could find — open hands, fists, a roll of aluminum foil, anything. They struggled with the man as change dropped all around them. When could take it no longer, he ran out of the door with only $30 in hand.
The Metropolitan Police Department tweeted a video of the showdown, but it has since been removed from YouTube.
VIDEO: Person of Interest in Robbery, 1300 b/o H St, NE, on 11/7. Have info? Call (202) 727-9099/text 50411. https://t.co/a4rqVsZkmg
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) November 13, 2017
(Thankfully, the Washington Post uploaded another one.)
After the incident, the four women told interviewers that they acted quickly in an effort to “to protect each other.”
Justine Choe helped Sandra Andino hold the cash tray. Both women smacked the man over the head.
“At the moment, it was like adrenaline. We were [just] doing our jobs,” Choe said.
Had the robber pulled a gun, she later admitted, they would have backed off.
“I see those two, my young girls, could get beat up by that guy. So I had to do something about it, so my instinct, you know, I just smacked him. And the other lady jumped up,” added Kay Aimes. “He didn’t get a chance to take the register because all four of us were holding it…Yeah! Women Power!”
“All the ladies were hitting him,” said Kelly Shar Khuu. She was sweeping the floor when she noticed the commotion and jumped in after grabbing the roll of aluminum foil.
The ladies called the police after the robber left. Aimes recalled one of the crime technicians said, “Way to go, girl! You guys are crazy.”
This is the first time Tony’s Breakfast was robbed in the 15 years that it’s been in service.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411.
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