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Owners Thwart Armed Robbery... When They Remove the Mask an All Too Familiar Face Appears

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Employees at a pizza shop in a small town in central Massachusetts were going about their business Tuesday evening when a masked man holding what appeared to be a handgun entered the store, hopped the front counter and demanded all of the store’s cash.

But according to WCVB, the employees of Northeast Pizza in Barre would have none of it, and fought back against the would-be robber and wrestled him to the ground in the lobby. They then held him pinned until police arrived to take the man into custody.

At some point during the scuffle, the employees became aware that they were quite familiar with the robber who turned out to be armed with a fake gun. He was later revealed to be a former manager of the store, Sean Coulson.

WHDH reported that the entire incident was captured on the store’s surveillance cameras. Coulson has been charged with multiple crimes including armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

“He jumped over the counter and had the gun pointed at my friend’s head while choking him against the wall,” recounted employee Trevor Kosla, who recognized his former manager during the struggle and was the one who ended up sitting on top of the attempted robber for several minutes until the police arrived.

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“He kept yelling at me to stop, that it was a joke,” Kosla said. “I said, ‘I don’t care who you are, this is not a joke.’”

According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, store owner Steve Barrett said he was proud of his employees, who he considered to be heroes, and revealed that Coulson — who lived right across the street from the pizza shop — had been fired from his manager position last year.

Sgt. William Recos of the Barre police agreed that the employees had exhibited bravery in fighting off the would-be robber, even as he reminded people that the police don’t recommend citizens fight with robbers over property. “We don’t want people putting their lives at risk,” he said.

Once Coulson’s attempted robbery was thwarted by his former co-workers, he attempted to explain to both them and the police that he wasn’t really trying to rob the store, but was instead just playing a joke on them.

Would you consider fighting back against an armed robber?

Obviously, the employees and police saw things quite a bit differently and weren’t buying the “joke” excuse.

“He jumped over the counter and demanded money,” stated Recos. “We don’t think that was a joke.”

Coulson is expected to appear in Western Worcester District Court for a hearing on Feb. 5 that will determine whether he poses a threat to the community or is safe to release on bail.

You can watch the incident unfold right here, with compelling play-by-play commentary from Kosla over much of the footage:



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This former manager of a pizza shop thought he could rob the place of their earnings for the night, but the employees he used to work with weren’t about to let that happen on their shift, and instead served up an order of instant justice.

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Ben Marquis is a writer who identifies as a constitutional conservative/libertarian. He has written about current events and politics for The Western Journal since 2014. His focus is on protecting the First and Second Amendments.
Ben Marquis has written on current events and politics for The Western Journal since 2014. He reads voraciously and writes about the news of the day from a conservative-libertarian perspective. He is an advocate for a more constitutional government and a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, which protects the rest of our natural rights. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with the love of his life as well as four dogs and four cats.
Birthplace
Louisiana
Nationality
American
Education
The School of Life
Location
Little Rock, Arkansas
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics




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