Rookie Sanitation Worker Hailed As Hero For Breaking Up Robbery At Gramercy 7-Eleven
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A rookie New York City sanitation worker is being called a hero after stopping a robbery in progress and tackling the suspect to the ground.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, surveillance footage shows Curtis Jackson jumping into action to stop an attempted robbery at a 7-Eleven on East 23rd Street and Park Avenue South.
"Without telling my partner, I just went around this aisle and went behind them and tried to grab his gun, or whatever it was in his pocket, and point it away from the cashier," he said.
Jackson later found out that the gun was a marker, but he didn't think twice about stepping in to help when he saw the clerk's hands up. Jackson held the man up against the wall, then tackled him to the ground.
"He struggled with me a little bit, so I had to take him down just to hold him and restrain him for the police to come," Jackson said.
Jackson held the suspect down with moves that he said he learned in the Marine Corps.
"I didn't know who was calling 911. I just wanted to make sure 911 was being called," he said.
Jackson had gone into the store to use the bathroom. He isn't calling himself a hero. The humble 44-year-old said he was just doing the right thing.
"I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't want my partner to get hurt, and I didn't want the cashier to get hurt. I didn't think; I just reacted," he said.
Police arrested the suspect, a 47-year-old homeless man, at the store. CBS2 has been told that he has 30 prior arrests and 4 outstanding warrants.