Family Fights Off Robber With Flare Gun

Occurred on February 3, 2017 / Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA

Info from Licensor: "My daughter and I were on shift at Tracks Smoke Shop in Elmwood Park, NJ. Guy walks into the shop around 6:15PM. Soft spoken, hoodie on. First thing he says is, "I have a gun and can rob you (taps his chest), but, that would not be the right thing to do." He proceeds to pick up different items and look at it while mumbling the same things repeatedly, " I have a gun and can rob you." My daughter Jazmin and I humored him with his questions about different products as we did not want to agitate him until we could safely call someone or the police. I was waiting for an opportunity to call my son Jonathan back to the store to help us allow the guy to leave quietly. When Jonathan arrived about five minutes after I called him, he came with his dog. The guy in question attempted to pet the dog but the dog stepped back, probably sensing something not quite right. The guy then proceeded to pick up bracelets I have on the counter and put them on one by one, he put a vape band on his middle finger (as seen in his police photograph). Once Jonathan engaged the guy (as seen at the beginning of the video),I immediately went to the back office and called the Elmwood Park, NJ police department and was explaining to the dispatcher what was going on when I saw the guy put the gun on the counter and reach into his pocket to pull out the cartridge to load it. I then told the dispatcher to send the police immediately and ran out to assist Jonathan and Jazmin. When I saw they had him somewhat contained, I ran next door to the Liquor store and told the owner to come help us, it was an emergency. When I returned, Jonathan was telling the guy to get out of the store. The guy kept saying he wanted his gun which Jonathan had successfully grabbed from him. We told him to step outside the store first and we would return it. He finally stepped to the front door but not outside. The police arrived at that moment and the guy then walked outside and started walking away. The cops intercepted and he resisted. It took five police officers to contain him. He was then arrested and subsequently released less than 24 hours later pending a hearing".