Security footage at the Ravi Mart in New London show a masked man barge into the convenience store around 4 a.m. Tuesday and point a gun straight at the unarmed clerk.
"He said, 'I’m not going to lie down on the floor. I’m not going to give you any money,'" store manager Muhammad Samad said of the clerk who was working at the time.
Instead, the clerk, a U.S. Army veteran, chose to calmly try to talk the man down. Samad said the would-be robber is a regular customer of the Bank Street store.
“He comes three or four times a day in the store and buys things like cigarettes or milk,” he said.
At first, the suspect remained aggressive, a struggle ensued. But in the end, the would-be robber finally put down the gun and took off his mask right there in the store.
Police arrested 49-year-old Kirk Skinner at his home on Pearl Street. Skinner is now behind bars on attempted robbery charges.
Police caution that the safest course of action is to call 911 right away than to confront the suspect yourself.
