Clerk fights off would-be robber with liquor bottle

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Two store clerks provided a different kind of bottle service to a would-be robber Thursday night.

When the suspect tried to take their cash, the clerk grabbed a liquor bottle and hit him over the head with it.

Surveillance video shows the suspect walking in just past 8 p.m. with no mask over his face.

Cameras behind the counter caught it all; he motions like he has a gun, and demands the cash.

Vincent Lee couldn't believe it.

“I thought he was joking the whole time and realized after a couple minutes passed I realized he was serious,” said Vincent Lee, clerk.

Video shows Lee stuffing cash into a bag. The suspect then grabs it.

“And he was like, ‘You think this is a game? You think this is a joke? You think this is worth losing your life over?’” Lee said.

But then everything takes a turn; a co-worker begins fighting off the suspect using a bottle of vodka. Moments later, both men force the suspect out the door.

“Not a scratch on me, I’m okay. I was expecting the day to come. It didn’t affect me too much,” Lee said.

Police caught up with the 38-year-old suspect from New Hampshire hours later in a nearby neighborhood. He was cut-up and bloody.

“I kind of doubted he had a weapon, but like I said, I didn’t want to challenge him. So I guess not knowing was a little bit frightening,” said Lee. “In the end it wasn’t even worth it for him. He’s in jail now with probably a split-open head,” said Lee.

The suspect is being charged with armed robbery.