Officials from Burke County, Georgia, have arrested a 17-year-old teenager after he was caught on camera attempting an armed robbery. The incident happened at around 11 a.m. Tuesday at a convenience store located in Keysville. According to WRDW TV , the teen, later identified as Christian Dakota Thornton , 17, has been charged with Criminal Attempt Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm during a Crime. The clerk in charge of the convenience store was Bhumika Patel who is seen on video fighting back the robber. The video showing the brave fightback is now going viral on social media. A clip of the video is embedded above.
Surveillance camera footage of the incident shows the teenager approaching the clerk with a can of Mountain Dew. According to reports, Patel was working alone at the store on Tuesday. In the video, the teenager is seen placing the soda can on the counter and giving a dollar bill to Patel. Nothing looks out of place — until Bhumika opens the cash register. As Bhumika is looking for change, the teenager is seen drawing his gun out of his jacket. He reportedly demanded all the cash be given to him.
Patel, who is an immigrant from India, describes what happened when she opened the cash register.
“My register opened and he said ‘No, no, no, no. I don’t need change. Give me whole money,’”
In no mood to give the money, Patel, in a split-second decision, decides to mount a fightback. She is for a brief time seen terrified upon seeing the gun, but quickly regains her composure and fights back.
“I say no I can’t. He say I shoot you! I say go ahead. If you want to shoot me, shoot me! He just try to face off like this gun, and I just slap it like that,” Patel tells reporters as she described the incident.
Patel’s counterattack is so vicious the teenager was almost taken aback. In the video, she is seen clawing at his hoodie. She then manages to get hold of the cash register drawer which she decides to use as a weapon. She lashes at the robber with all her strength until he manages to get free and runs. Bhumika then gets hold of a hammer which she had every intention to use on the teen. However, the robber manages to slip away and dashes out of the store. Bhumika is seen chasing the teenager out of the store.
“After I pick my hammer and try to reach out, he just fall down and run out”
Another unreleased video shows Bhumika chasing the robber out of the store with her hammer still in hand. According to Karen Simpson, a customer who reached the store minutes after the robbery attempt took place, “Bhumika’s first thought was just to grab that cash drawer and start beating him with it and just push the gun away. I think it startled the crap out of him. I think that was the last thing he expected.”
According to reports, none of the individuals seen in the video were injured. Patel says she did get some minor scratches.
“Just a little bit of a scratch here. Three nails lose. That’s it.”
Patel has become a local hero of sorts in the neighborhood following the incident. A group of people gathered around to watch the video again on Wednesday. Karen says she watched the video of the incident and was amazed.
“When I watched it the first time, all I could do was laugh. Then the feeling set in that I was just thankful she wasn’t hurt, and then I laughed again,” Simpson said.
Patel has also been receiving accolades from her regular patrons with some even penning a song for the store with the lyrics, “Please don’t let no robbers come to this store.”
Meanwhile, several people have opined that instead of fighting back, she should have let go of the money and that she was lucky the teenager did not pull the trigger. Patel, however, says if this happens again, she would do it all over again.
“Because I no fight, still he shoot me. I fight, still he shoot me. Better, then, I fight,” Patel said.
[Image Via Burke County Sheriff’s Office]
