Lady rescued from robber’s grasp
Published 12:00 am Monday, June 30, 2003
The people who say chivalry got lost in the last century weren’t standing in the parking lot of Sonic early Sunday morning.
According to Demopolis Police, a female employee of Sonic was attacked by a masked robber who sprayed mace in the employee’s face and swiped the cash bags from her hands.
But before the would-be robber made it out of the parking lot with the money, the assailed employee’s boyfriend came to the rescue.
Though police could not release the boyfriend’s name because he is a juvenile, a report by police said the boyfriend "fought with the suspect and recovered the money bags…"
After sacking the suspect, the boyfriend went a step further and ripped the mask from the suspect’s face.
Stephen D. Johnson, 21, of Gallion, was arrested later Sunday morning by Demopolis Police thanks to the boyfriend’s courage.
Numerous calls to the robbery victim’s home went unreturned on Tuesday, and employees at Sonic said they didn’t know the identity of the young man who rescued his girlfriend and helped police crack this case.
Though the boyfriend tackled Johnson and recovered the cash deposit bags, the suspect was able to flee the scene. However, the boyfriend was able to identify Johnson and four hours later, police went to Johnson’s Gallion home and made the arrest without incident.
Avery doesn’t believe every person has the ability to snuff out criminals like this young man did, and because of that, the police chief believes local stores should make use of services the Demopolis Police force offers.
Avery said many stores don’t know the police force has a policy to escort people handling money.