Sixto Salinas and his 18-year-old daughter were about to enter Sunny Food Mart at 9 p.m. Tuesday when they were nearly knocked over by two men rushing out of the store. They gleaned from a witness inside that the two men had just robbed the store (police classified it as theft), knocking over a customer and struggling with a clerk in their attempt to escape.
Salinas and his daughter saw the men getting into a red Chevy pickup but couldn't make out the license plate, so they hopped in their brand-new Nissan so they could get a closer look.
When the robbers realized several blocks later that they were being followed, they slammed on their brakes and gunned it in reverse, crashing into the front of Salinas' car. The truck pulled forward, and Salinas and his daughter stepped out of the car to get a better look at the license plate.
As they did so, the driver of the truck gunned it in reverse once again in an attempt to run them over. Salinas was ready this time with his concealed handgun. He got off a single round before the truck drove away. Neither Salinas nor his daughter was harmed, but their Nissan suffered $5,000 in damages.
The robbers, so far at least, have gotten off scot-free. The thing is they weren't robbers, waving guns and knives and demanding money, but mere shoplifters. All they took was a $25 case of beer which, judging by the price and the fact it comes in a case, must have been a fine brew indeed.
