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Clerk Shoots Robber During Holdup

Police: Security Cameras Provide Another Set Of Eyes

POSTED: Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Two men jumped the counter of a Northside gas station, pointed guns at the owner and forced him to empty the cash register.

They got more than what they wanted. One robber left with a bullet in his leg.

Police said the BP station on Broward Road was robbed in broad daylight.

"They just want to get money," owner Vijay Patel said. "That's what they just keep telling me, just 'Give me money, whatever you got, from the cash registers and safe.'"

Surveillance cameras caught the whole crime on tape, including when Patel grabbed his own gun and fired.

"I just ... take my gun out and shot him on his leg," Patel said.

The injury didn't stop the robbers. The video shows one of them hold a gun on Patel while the other makes him open the register. The robbers then ran outside and took off in a white van.

Detectives found several spots of blood near the door.

Vijay Patel
Vijay Patel continues to work behind the counter of his BP store, saying "I'm not that scared."
Patel's nose was bruised in the struggle but did not require medical treatment.

"These type of thugs, they are in and out, they're not really thinking about surveillance. They just want to get what they want," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson said. "The surveillance video just gives us another set of eyes."

"I be OK. I'm not that scared," he said.

Patel told Channel 4's Emily Pantelides that until the robbers are caught, he's going to be extra careful.

Police ask anyone with information about the robbery or who recognizes the gunmen in the surveillance images to call Crimestoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

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