Police: Clerk's phone stops bullet during robbery

Man sought after shooting at Winter Park clerk during attempted robbery

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – A gas station clerk suffered minor injuries during an armed robbery after his cellphone blocked a bullet, according to Winter Garden police.

Police said the man went into Hess gas station on the corner of West Colonial Drive and State Road 535 at 4:30 a.m. on Monday and requested the clerk to help him find a beverage.

The man then showed the clerk a revolver and demanded the clerk open the safe. When the clerk tried to open the safe but couldn't, a second clerk tried to open the safe but couldn't, police said.

The robber then left the store and fired a shot on the way out, striking the clerk in the abdomen. Police said the clerk's cellphone blocked the bullet and he was not seriously injured.

"It could have been life ending. So he's very lucky that the cell phone stopped the bullet and he's able to go home," said Lt. Scott Allen of Winter Garden Police Department.

The culprit is described as a black man, 6 feet tall and wearing a dark-colored, hooded sweatshirt and pants, sunglasses, bright yellow traffic vest, and wearing white gloves, police said. the culprit.