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Gas Station Clerk Pushes Cooler Full of Drinks Onto Armed Robber (VIDEO)

By Alisa Hauser | December 7, 2014 1:01pm | Updated on December 8, 2014 11:21am
 The clerk of a Wicker Park gas station pushed a drink cooler onto an armed robber.
The clerk of a Wicker Park gas station pushed a drink cooler onto an armed robber.
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WICKER PARK —  A gas station clerk who fought back against an armed robber — pushing a large metal  cooler onto the robber's back — said he did it because he wanted to have "a chance" at surviving the ordeal.

"I felt scared, but if you do not fight, you have no chance. I had a 50-50 chance, so I took it," said Omar Breton, who fended off a man armed with a gun during a robbery that occurred around 6:30 p.m. Thursday at a Shell gas station at 1950 W. Division St.

In a surveillance video, Breton pushes a cooler stocked with drinks against the assailant, even as the man tries to extend his arm around the cooler and shoot the 32-year-old clerk.

The gunman runs when the cooler is pushed into him.

Watch here (story continues below):

The robber, who was wearing a green reflective safety vest, entered the station with a napkin over his face. 

While leaning across the counter and asking for cigarettes, the man shows a gun.

When a taxi driver comes in to try to buy water, the gunman jumps back, and the cabbie quickly leaves the store to call for help.

The gunman then comes behind the counter and demands that Breton give him money.

"He said he would shoot me," Breton said.

Breton said he could not open the register because there was a transaction that needed to be completed and he could not immediately recall a code needed to cancel that transaction.

As Breton becomes flustered at the register, he tells the crook he needs more time, which prompts the robber to go to the other side of the counter. 

Then, Breton moves away from the register to push a cooler against the robber, who tries to fire a shot around the cooler but fails.

The robber then runs from the store, heading east on Division Street toward the CTA "L" station.

Gaspar Gomez, owner of the Shell station, which celebrated 40 years in business in June, said that the station hasn't had a holdup in several years.

"This guy had a lot of guts to come in at 6:30 p.m. It was an isolated incident that we did not expect. I always tell my cashiers that when they have a holdup, just give them the money; don't fight," Gomez said.

The gunman was described as a black male, 38 to 40 years old, around 6 feet tall, weighing 210-240 pounds, with brown eyes and a dark brown complexion, police said.

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