Wissinoming Store Owner Fights Off Armed Robber
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Wissinoming corner grocery store is robbed twice in two weeks.
Surveillance video captured both incidents and it shows why police say the owner of Lisa & Charlie's Market on the 6000 block of Torresdale Avenue is lucky to be alive.
The video shows the feisty and fearless female store owner trying to wrestle a gun out of the hand of a man who she says tried to rob her. Her 13-year-old son is also seen in the video jumping in and struggling with the suspect.
"Trying to help my mom and my mom told me to call 911," Jack Jiang said.
According to the video, Jiang followed his mother's orders, this as the struggle continued until they are finally outside the store where the owner, Yuzhen Ma, eventually wins the battle and the suspect ends up running away empty-handed.
Ma admits she was scared but because the suspect was choking her, she says she had to fight for her life and protect her son.
"I was crying on the street," Ma said.
Ma also added she was frustrated because she had just been robbed two weeks earlier by a man armed with a knife. In that case, however, she knew better and complied.
Ma calls it lesson learned. In her three years at the store, she's been robbed a total of five times. She now has eight surveillance cameras rolling at all times.
Watch the video...
To catch the suspects, police posted the videos from the latest two robberies on the department's Youtube site.
With help from the public, police arrested the gun-wielding suspect Friday morning.
The gun turned out to be an unloaded BB gun so police stress Ma was fortunate and remind the public her reaction is not recommended behavior.
Meanwhile, police are now hoping the public can help them identify the knife-wielding suspect from the June 14th robbery.
Reported by Elizabeth Hur, CBS 3
