Clean It Up!

This is the feel-good story of the day, and maybe for the entire Christmas season.

A culturally-enriched young man — Mostafa Kamel Hendi by name — approached the counter of a “We Buy Gold” franchise in western North Carolina, waved a gun, and demanded money. After the would-be robber came behind the counter, the clerk decked him with a left, knocking him out cold. When the unfortunate perp came to, the clerk made him mop up his own blood from the floor.

Thank goodness for surveillance video! Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this clip:


Below the jump is the accompanying news story from a local Spartanburg TV station:

Caught on Tape: Clerk Punches, Knocks Out Armed Robber

Clerk Then Makes Suspect Clean Up His Own Blood

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. -- A clerk at a business in Western North Carolina punched a would-be robber and knocked him out cold just minutes after the man barged in with a gun and demanded money.

It happened about 15 minutes before closing time Friday night at We Buy Gold store in Hendersonville.

“When he came through the door he told me had a gun and he even flashed it,” said Derek Mothershead. “I stood up and threw my hands up and said, ‘Take the money.’”

Mothershead said the man came behind the counter with a bag.

The punch knocked out the would-be thief. Mothershead was able to grab the man’s weapon and realized it was a pellet gun.

“When I pulled it out of his waistband I started laughing,” said Mothershead. “I said, ‘Man, you came in here with a fake gun?’”

Mothershead said he dragged the man over to a desk and held him down with one hand and called 911 with the other.

The man, later identified as Mostafa Hendi, eventually regained consciousness.

“He kind of begged me, begged me to let him go,” Mothershead said. “I said, ‘You came in and tried to rob us. You’re going to jail.’”

While they waited for police and paramedics, Mothershead gave the man a roll of power towels, sprayed the floor with cleaner and told him to clean up his own blood.

“At the time you really don’t think you hit somebody as hard as you do, but looking back at the tape I can say I hit him pretty hard, I guess,” Mothershead said.

Hendi remains behind bars on a charge of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon. His bond was set at $100,000.

“There was just an opportunity there where I thought that I could actually do something and justice could be served, and I thought that’s what needed to be done,” said Mothershead.

We Buy Gold has dealt with others robberies at its 30 locations between Western North Carolina and the Upstate.

“It’s not even worth hitting us,” said Mothershead. “We’ve got a fast-retrieval money system in order and we really don’t carry that much money to begin with, so there’s no point in hitting us.”

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.

Hat tip: Takuan Seiyo.