Captured on tape: 8-year-old swings bat to fight off robbery suspect
It was almost closing time at Big Discount Liquors on White Bear Avenue in Maplewood on Saturday night.
Maplewood police report that Conchobhar Joseph Morrell, 37, pulled a gun on the man behind the counter during a robbery attempt.
That man behind the counter was Leo — he just wanted to use his first name — who runs the family business.
“He just told me, ‘Give me everything you got — open the register.’ I said, ‘OK, not a big deal,’” Leo said. “I’ll give you everything you want, just please put the gun down because I have my daughter tonight with me.”
Leo had let his staff leave early and was planning to leave soon with his daughter to head home.
In the video, you can see the robbery suspect come behind the counter with a gun in his hand.
“I don’t want him to come close to my daughter, I told him to stop there, ‘I’ll give you everything, stop there,’ my daughter is there — he don’t listen.”
The video shows Leo struggling with the suspect when his daughter grabs a baseball bat from behind the counter and starts swinging at the man before going to get help.
“I love her so much,” Leo said.
Leo didn’t know what she had done until he watched back the security video with Maplewood police as they investigated the robbery attempt.
“She’s like, ‘I wanted my dad safe, I want to help my dad,’” Leo recalled. “I was like, that almost made me cry, a very strong girl.”
Word of what played out spread around town and led to customers stopping in to show their support for the family.
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The apparent gun was found to be a BB gun designed to be a replica Sig Sauer 1911 .45-caliber handgun, court documents state.
Morrell was later found near the store and arrested. Court documents state that he had a fresh, bloody scrape beneath his left eye and dried blood on his lips.
Officers found the clothes he wore during the attempted robbery in his car. His phone was also found in the store.
Morrell is scheduled to be in court on Friday morning.