Robbery-In-Progress Stopped By OC Sergeant During Morning Coffee Stop
DANA POINT (CBSLA) — A sergeant with the Orange County Sheriff's Department ended up leaving a Dana Point Starbucks with more than just his coffee.
It was a lucky thing Sgt. Jeff Anderson grabbed his morning coffee at a local Starbucks.
"As I was ordering my coffee, the manager asked me if I was on duty," he recalled. "I looked down and I go, 'Yeah, I'm on duty today."
Anderson didn't know it, but a man inside the shop had been causing trouble. Within a minute or so, the sergeant heard this: "He said, 'Give me my computer back,' or something like that, and then he gets up out of his seat and headed toward the guy who was headed toward the door."
"They're struggling near the door with the computer," he explained.
It was a tug-of-war over a laptop.
The sergeant said Eric Downey had grabbed it from a customer and a 32-year-old transient was headed out the door.
The deputy called for back-up. A robbery-in-progress was stopped.
It was a productive coffee break for the veteran deputy who said it's the kind of thing his guys do every day but don't get on TV for.
"For me, I almost feel guilty forgetting highlighted on this," he said. "Everyday I see all of the stuff that they do that goes kind of unnoticed."
Sgt. Anderson said when he got the suspect outside and sat him on the curb, he realized the suspect may have some mental issues.
The suspect was arrested and sent to jail.