TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
Living in the Tucson area, we all know there's a convenience store on just about every corner. Unfortunately, criminals know this too. Which is why convenience store robberies have become all too common, especially as of late.
From midtown to the south-side to the east-side they happen everywhere and often.
Low level thieves looking to make a fast buck.
In most cases, they get away with about a hundred dollars or less or maybe a few cartons of cigarettes.
But in every case the stakes are incredibly high whenever you're dealing with an armed suspect.
"They have to be considered very dangerous because this is a very volatile situation. What if the clerk would not have followed the instructions?"
Pima County Deputy Tom Peine is talking about a brazen takedown last week where two Hispanic males wearing identical jackets robbed a Circle K on South Nogales Highway.
Good news is the clerk listened to their demands and nobody got hurt.
But in every armed robbery the circumstances can change in an instant.
"They're obviously under extreme stress in these types of situations," Peine says. "If somebody could have walked in through the door, we just don't know where it would have gone."
Such was the case Monday night at a Circle K near Stone and Glenn.
Police say a man, later identified as Richard Smith, attempted to walk out of the store without paying for a sandwich and a Coke.
That's when a bystander decided to intervene.
"A citizen stepped in front of the door, asked him what he thought he was doing. The suspect threw the sandwich at him, pulled out a gun and pointed it at him," says Tucson Police Sgt. Chris Widmer.
The suspect ran out of the store and fled on a bicycle, but within minutes was tracked down and arrested by Tucson Police.
In this case the citizen's actions definitely paid off.
But as a general rule of thumb police discourage people from taking the law into their own hands.
"Don't get involved, be the best witness you can, help police out that way," Widmer says.
"The idea of somebody stepping up and saying no...there's something to be admired about that," Widmer says. "But at the same time, nobody wants to see -- not the Circle K Corporation, not the police, not the community, not your family -- wants to see you get hurt or shot or stabbed over products from a convenience store."
Copyright 2013 Tucson News Now. All rights reserved.
