Bar owner, customers beat up would-be robber

[Desertdog]

Some BGs just have a bad day.

Bar owner, customers beat up would-be robber
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0409Bar-Beating-ON.html

Associated Press
Apr. 9, 2004 08:27 AM


KOKOMO, Ind. - A bar owner and three of his customers beat a would-be robber so badly that the shotgun-wielding man needed 19 staples in his head, police said.

Police said Donald A. Willis, 46, held a shotgun and walked into a Kokomo bar Wednesday just as it was closing at 3 a.m.

Willis told the owner and three customers to get on the floor, said Lt. Don Whitehead.

Tom Grawey, one of the bar's owners, charged Willis, knocking him to the floor. One customer grabbed the gun, another hit the man in the head with several bottles and a third patron helped subdue the suspect, Whitehead said.

"We would never encourage people to take matters in their own hands, especially in a situation like this," Whitehead said. "It was a very dangerous decision to make. Fortunately, it turned out well."

Grawey said the man pointed the gun at him and the three others in the bar.

"I just did what I had to do," he said.

The man's shotgun was not loaded and had a trigger lock, Whitehead said.

Willis, 46, received 19 staples in his head before being arrested on a felony charge of attempted robbery. He was jailed on $150,000 bond.

The customers suffered minor injuries when they wrestled Willis to the ground, but did not require treatment.

 

[Valkman]

A bar owner and three of his customers beat a would-be robber so badly that the shotgun-wielding man needed 19 staples in his head, police said.

If I was the robber I'd consider myself very lucky! Good for them.

 

[fjolnirsson]

"The man's shotgun was not loaded and had a trigger lock, Whitehead said."

Does that mean it was locked, or that it merely had a lock?

What kind of idiot robs a bar with an uloaded gun?

I guess the dumb kind....

 

[mrtgbnkr]

Fortunately, it turned out well."

True enough!

 

[The_Antibubba]

Since he was using a trigger lock, do you think he can argue for less time-he was, after all, using it safely?

Bet this is a stolen gun, and he couldn't figure out how to remove the lock.

 

[Greg L]

Well, if I was sitting in a bar (not likely in my case so let's call it a resturaunt) & someone came in with a shotgun with a visible trigger lock I would probably jump him also.

Score one for the "safe storage law" crowd. This guy was probably too dumb to get it off of the gun that he stole .

 

[Brian Dale]

This needs to be written up in an editorial somewhere —

We now have the first documented instance of a trigger lock's involvement in stopping a crime!

Too bad that it only works on profoundly stupid criminals.

 

[standingbear]

it musta been one of those new smartgun locksits refreshing to hear stories such as this..maybe this dummy will think next time about the consequences before robbing someone.

 

[Kim]

Sounds like a Hank Williams song in the makin'''''''''''I'd spit beachnut juice in his eye and shoot him with my old 45 a COUNTRY GIRL can survive.

 

[PATH]

Holding up a bar with an empty shotgun and a trigger lock in place. Another candidate for the Darwin awards methinkst!

 

[Standing Wolf]

What kind of idiot robs a bar with an uloaded gun?

A Kerry supporter, obviously.

 

[c_yeager]

KOKOMO, Ind. - A bar owner and three of his customers beat a would-be robber so badly that the shotgun-wielding man needed 19 staples in his head, police said.

Tom Grawey, one of the bar's owners, charged Willis, knocking him to the floor. One customer grabbed the gun, another hit the man in the head with several bottles and a third patron helped subdue the suspect, Whitehead said.

Must not have hit him very hard. 19 staples isnt FUN by any means. But every person i have seen take a HARD strike from even ONE bottle needed more than that.