BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Over the years, barber Bernard Mixon has given his share of close trims. Wednesday morning, he had a close call with a criminal.
Minutes after a Bank of America branch on Altama Connector was robbed by a man with a gun, James Eugene Blaze of St. Simons Island came into Mixon's barber shop in the Glynn Place Mall looking for a trim.
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"We talked about the bank robbery, really, not knowing he was the one," Mixon (pictured, left) said. "Then, one of the other guys walks over and says 'Hey, they're looking for someone like you that's got on flip-flops (and a) goatee. Then the (customer) told me to go ahead -- if I had time when I got through -- to cut the goatee off."
Minutes later this barber realized this wasn't your normal cut.
"These six detectives come around the corner with big guns drawn and told me to step back," Mixon said.
He said they took the barber cloth off their 34-year-old suspect, had him stand, put his arms behind his back and frisked him.
Others in the shop say they never suspected a thing ... until the cops arrived.
"He just seemed normal to me," style shop employee Lea Partie said. "I never even gave him a second look."
After the arrest, police said Blaze made some incriminating statements and told them they could find the weapon used in the robbery outside the mall, which they did. He was charged with one count of armed robbery.
For Mixon, the excitement passed quickly and he went to work cutting hair for his next customer.