Police1 Staff Report
(EULESS, Texas) -- An armed robber grabbed a money bag and shot at the guard who was carrying it on Monday. Then the driver of the armored truck that held the cash bag chased the alleged robber down and ran over him, police said.
Police have not released the name of the 24-year-old man who allegedly robbed a Loomis Fargo & Co. armored truck in front of the Home Depot in the 200 block of South Industrial Boulevard. The man was taken by helicopter to John Peter Smith Hospital where he underwent surgery for minor injuries.
At about 10:50 a.m. in the parking lot of the home improvement store, the man wrestled the money bag from a guard, fired one shot and ran through the parking lot, holding a gun in his hand. The shot missed the guard but hit a kerosene tank nearby.
Euless police Lt. Steve Kockos was in the parking lot at the time of the holdup.
“I saw the armored truck in front of Home Depot and there was nothing suspicious going on,” he told the Star-Telegram. “I turned to look at another car in the parking lot when I heard yelling. I could see the guard and another man scuffling, then I heard a shot.”
The guard went after the suspect with his armored truck, striking him before the officer could react.
“I decided that I was going to cut him off in that corner,” Kockos told the Star-Telegraph, but he said before the robber could get there the driver got there first “He hit him while he was in full stride,” Kockos told the newspaper. “He did what was necessary to stop him from hurting other people.”
The money the armored truck was carrying was transferred to a second armored vehicle, authorities said.