Criminals are always hoping that they’ll catch a helpless and unsuspecting victim.
Their worst nightmare is finding someone ready for them.
And Security footage caught a military veteran uttering two words that stopped this robber cold.
Burglar picks the wrong jewelry store to rob late at night
A jewelry store thief got more than he bargained for when he tried to break in at almost midnight.
Garrett Peddicord was working a late night shift on a Saturday at Sidrony Jewelers in Omaha, Nebraska, when he heard a rock go through the window.
“I heard a really loud distinctive crash,” Peddicord said. “Nothing else sounds quite like a broken window.”
“Nobody’s welcome in the store at midnight,” Peddicord added.
Peddicord was working in the back of the store on an order for a customer.
“When we’re busing during the day I have to do all of this at night,” Peddicord explained.
He saw someone trying to break into the store on his surveillance footage.
A burglar dressed head to toe in black was making his way in through the broken window.
“So I spun around in my chair, looked at the camera and I saw a shadowy figure crawling through the window,” Peddicord stated.
Peddicord – the owner of the store and a goldsmith – was a veteran of the Air Force who spent a year deployed in Afghanistan.
And he also owns Athena Arms in Bellevue, a firearms store with a large shooting range.
The hapless burglar probably thought that the jewelry store would empty that close to midnight.
He went straight for the diamond display.
“This is our showoff case with the really nice stuff in it,” Peddicord said.
Air Force veteran sends jewelry store robber fleeing with the sight of a gun
Peddicord’s military training kicked in.
“I typically carry a firearm on my waist, even after hours,” Peddicord told KETV. “It’s just one of those things: keys, wallet, firearm.”
He came out of the back of the store with a handgun drawn and shouted “Hey mother**er!”
The sight of the gun momentarily froze the burglar who briefly put his hands up.
As Peddicord walked toward him, gun drawn, the would-be thief turned around and left through the window he broke.
A Nebraska jewelry store owner says his military training came in handy when he chased a would-be robber out of his store at gunpoint. pic.twitter.com/BLs4DLsCnZ
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 10, 2024
Nothing was stolen from the store and police are still looking for the suspect.
“Thank my lucky stars that I put so much thought and time and repetitive training and practice into how to responsibly carry a firearm,” Peddicord said.
He said that he was able to stay cool under pressure from 10 years of active duty service in the Air Force and from his work as a firearms training instructor.
“There’s a whole lesson on that in the curriculum for concealed carry,” Peddicord remarked.
He achieved the best possible outcome in the situation by scaring off the burglar without firing his gun.
“I’m not the trigger-happy type looking for an opportunity. I hope to never have to discharge my firearm in defense,” Peddicord said.
The sight of a gun or the pump of a shotgun can be all it takes to get the job done sometimes.
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