Grocery teller fends off alleged robber with tire iron

A clerk defended her Salt Lake City grocery store with a tire iron after she called a man's bluff to rob her with a gun.

A Salt Lake City man entered the Fresh Market at 880 West North Temple on April 21 and told the teller to give him all the cash, according to court records.

When the woman asked if he were joking, the man lifted his shirt and said he had a gun. The clerk didn't see the gun, so grabbed a nearby tire iron and told the man to leave, saying he'd better "make it good" because she intended to "beat the sh— out of him," court records state.

The man fled in a maroon car. The clerk provided a partial Idaho license plate number to police.

Officers found the car and spotted the man running away from it. Officers told him to stop, but he ran through a neighborhood house in an attempt to lose police, according to documents.

After the man came out of the house, police arrested him.

Police later learned the car was stolen in a carjacking in West Jordan the previous night.

The man was charged in 3rd District Court on Tuesday with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; theft by receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony; failure to respond to officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony; fail to stop at command of law officer, a class A misdemeanor; and criminal trespassing, a class A misdemeanor.

cimaron@sltrib.com

Twitter: @CimCity