Starbucks robber
Representative image of a man threatening with pocket knife. Getty Images

In a dramatic video that has emerged on YouTube, a customer was seen tackling an armed robber in a Starbucks outlet in California.

According to reports, the robbery happened July 19 at about 5:30 p.m. and was caught on the CCTV camera of the store on Herndon Avenue, Golden State Boulevard in northwest Fresno. It was then released by the police July 21 and published on YouTube, following which it went viral and gave the customer instant fame with many calling his actions ‘heroic.’

The police said Cregg Jerri, 58, had walked into the Starbucks cafe and was drinking his beverage when the robber entered the coffee shop.

In the video, the robber, who is wearing a Transformers’ Optimus Prime mask, can be seen approaching the counter with a yellow bag in one hand and a gun in another. He walks up to the counter and threatens the woman at the billing desk. He also pulls out a knife from his pocket and demands money.

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Meanwhile, another camera shows Jerri picking up a metal chair, approaching the suspect from behind and hitting him hard on the head several times in an attempt to stop the robbery. The video then shows Jerri fighting off the robber and eventually wrestling him to the ground.

As they struggled, Jerri realized the gun in the suspect’s hand wasn’t real, KMJ-Radio reported. As he tried to keep the robber away, Jerri was stabbed in the neck, however, he wrestled the knife away from the robber and stabbed him back.

According to the Fresno Bee, the robber was able to free himself from Jerri and flee from the coffee shop. He drove a truck to Dakota where he abandoned it and ran towards a canal. A passerby noticed his bloodied clothes and called the police for help. After being detained and questioned, he told officers he had been the victim of a robbery.

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By the time he was taken to a hospital, police had already determined that he was not the victim, but a suspect in an attempted robbery at Starbucks cafe. After an investigation, police identified him as 30-year-old Ryan Flores. According to the police, he had no criminal history.

While Flores was hospitalized for his injuries, Jerri required a “few staples” close to the neck area. Police said Flores would be arrested after he recovers from his wounds and will face attempted armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charge, police stated.

“There are probably not very many people in America who would do what Cregg Jerri did,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. He added that while Jerri’s actions were heroic, they were also dangerous and he would not want anyone to follow his footsteps.

“In this case, it was a good outcome. No one died as a result of this incident, but [someone] very well could have,” he said.