Ryan Flores is a fan of Transformers and armed robbery. The 30-year-old suspect attempted to rob a Starbucks near Herndon Avenue and Highway 99 in Fresno, California when 58-year-old Cregg Jerri intervened.
Jerri was enjoying a cup of coffee when Flores entered the cafe with a robot mask covering his face. Armed with a gun and a knife in the same hand, Flores ordered the cashier to empty the register into plastic bag.
Jerri calmly stood, picked up a chair, and smashed Flores in the back of the head just like a pro-wrestler. The two men fought for a few minutes, both sustaining several injuries before the good Samaritan came out on top.
Jerri was stabbed in the neck, but the 58-year-old managed to wrestle the knife away from Flores and then stabbed his attacker multiple times. Now Pamela Chimienti, Flores mother, complains that her son wouldn’t have stabbed Jerri to begin with if he hadn’t fought back so violently.
“He has 17 total stab wounds, lacerations, and defensive wounds,” Chimienti said about her son’s injuries in an interview with local news station KSEE. “The guy (Jerri), in my opinion, went from a Good Samaritan to a vigilante. Stabbing somebody that many times, it doesn’t take that many stab wounds to get somebody to succumb to you.” Flores has said that he plans to sue Jerri for using “excessive force” during their fight.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says Jerri is a hero and that Flores’s case doesn’t stand a chance in court. “To say that Cregg Jerri is going to be sued for intervening in an armed robbery and being stabbed in the neck. That is ludicrous!” he said.
Chief Dyer agrees that Jerri feared for his life and took appropriate action to defend himself. Jerri does not face any criminal charges while Flores remains in police custody on a $155,000 bail bond. Flores faces felony armed robbery charges.
Charles Magill, a legal analyst, says Jerri doesn’t have anything to worry about. “Good luck finding an attorney that wants to represent a young robber who’s going to be convicted of robbery,” Magill explained. “That’s not going to sell very well to the jury.”
See Jerri’s heroic act and learn more about the aftermath in the video below.