An armed robber told a Subway cashier to give him the cash. ‘Get a job,’ she told him.
Cathy Stafford just wasn’t having any of it.
On Tuesday in Warren, Ohio, the man in front of Stafford said he had a gun and told her to hand over the money in the cash register. But the Subway employee wasn’t frightened in a situation that would terrify many.
In dramatic cell phone video captured by one of her fellow employees, Stafford can be seen staring down the robber, who tells her to open the register.
In a slightly annoyed voice, Stafford says simply, “Why are you doing this, man?”
“Open the f------ register,” the robber responds.
“Get a job,” Stafford replies
The video has since been viewed more than 65,000 times on social media, according to WKBN, who spoke to Stafford.
“I guess, some people just have that courage, here and there,” Stafford told the station. “I don't know what took over me. I guess sometimes I do things I shouldn't do. And I speak — just, whatever comes to my mind, it just comes out.”
The person shooting the video of the incident, Sierra Harper, said she was initially frightened by Stafford’s actions.
“I was really shocked what she was saying at that time. It was scary because you don't know in that mindset what he's thinking, if he could jump over the counter,” Harper told WKBN.
Stafford, however, told WFMJ that she didn’t believe the man had a gun.
“If you have a gun, I'll give you the money. No one has to get hurt. You don't have a gun, and you’re standing there saying ‘give me the money’, no I'm not doing it,” Stafford said.
The man eventually just took the tip jar next to the register, which had $13 in it, per WKBN.
The store had been robbed previously that week, Stafford told WFMJ, and other businesses in the area have allegedly been targeted as well.
“It happens too much around here and if nobody stands up and nobody does anything about it, it's going to continue to happen,” Stafford told WFMJ.
“She put a stop to him and he was not prepared for that,” Harper told WKBN.
This is not the first time a cashier’s unexpectedly calm and even flippant attitude during a robbery has made waves on social media. In late April, a robber pointed a gun at a Jimmy John’s employee’s head in Kansas City, Missouri. The employee, Tuker Murray, did eventually hand over the money to the robber, who was later arrested, but he later told international media outlets that he was just less than impressed by the thief.
“It was amateur hour,” he told TMZ.
In Warren, police are still searching for the man who robbed the Subway and say they have several leads in the case, per WKBN.
This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "An armed robber told a Subway cashier to give him the cash. ‘Get a job,’ she told him.."