A server who refused to give a would-be armed robber any money, may have thought she was doing the right thing, but Olds & District Community Policing Advisory Society secretary-treasurer Judy Schlichenmayer says it was actually the wrong thing – a more dangerous strategy.
The incident occurred Feb. 4 at Our Flames Restaurant and Lounge.
Server Megan Wood refused to hand over any money to a would-be robber who wielded an apparent sawed-off firearm. Wood determined that it was just a BB gun.
The suspect threw a backpack at her and ordered her to turn over cash for it. She declined to do so. He swore at her and left.
About 10 to 12 people were in the lounge at the time of the incident (about 9:45 p.m.) and restaurant owner Prokopi Roussakos was on the phone with police.
“The front-line slogan is ‘comply, comply, comply.' Just give them their stuff, get them the hell out of the business and move on, because you can replace stuff, but you can't replace people,” Schlichenmayer told the Albertan.
“It comes down to ‘it's only money.' And that's better than getting somebody hurt or killed.”
“That's the scary thing, because if he had been on a lot of drugs and gotten very violent, she could have gotten hurt quite badly,” Schlichenmayer added.
Wood is six months pregnant.
Schlichenmayer says that makes the need to comply all that much greater.
“He could have just beat her up really bad and she could have survived but she could have maybe lost the baby, which would have been even more of a hardship,” she said.
"Just give them their stuff, get them the hell out of the business and move on, because you can replace stuff, but you can't replace people." JUDY SCHLICHENMAYERSECRETARY-TREASURER OLDS & DISTRICT COMMUNITY POLICING ADVISORY SOCIETY
