Ex-soldier tackles armed robber
A former soldier has told how he wrestled an armed robber to the ground in an attack on a pharmacy, forcing him to drop his BB gun and much of the cash he had stolen from the till.
The 49-year-old tackled the masked thief in a raid on Lloyds Pharmacy in Burntwood.
He was foiled only when the getaway driver arrived on the scene and punched the veteran in the face, giving him a bloody nose and forcing him to loosen his grip on his captive.
The have-a-go hero, a former member of the Staffordshire Regiment, was waiting for a prescription to be made up at the counter at around 10.15am on Friday when the robber entered, pointing a weapon.
He said: "It looked very similar to a British Army 9mm automatic pistol, although it wasn't clear at that point whether it was real or not.
"He grabbed money from the till and threatened us not to move as he went into the back looking for drugs.
"I decided I was going to tackle him and when he came out. I tried to get the gun. We fell to the floor and the gun dropped from his hand. We were rolling around, stuff on the displays was getting knocked over. He was kicking out a lot. My adrenalin was really pumping."
