(TX) Clerk uses gun as club to subdue attacker 03-03-05
Date: Mar 4, 2005 1:55 AM
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4250495/detail.html
Store Clerk Fights Back Against Robber
Clerk Thankful Gun Jams During Struggle
March 3, 2005

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — A North Texas store manager refused to become a
victim when a robber jumped over the counter at his convenience store
and attempted to rob him.

The store clerk, Ahmed Qasem, fought back and managed to restrain the
robber until police arrived.

The attempted robbery happened in the 2300 block of west Main in Grand
Prairie. Qasem said his survival instincts kicked in and allowed him to
gain the upper hand over the robber.

Qasem said the man picked up two quarts of beer and asked for some
cigarettes. The man then darted around the counter and put Qasem in a
choke hold.

“He said, ‘Do you want to die?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want to die,’”
Qasem said.

With the crook’s arm tight around his throat,
Qasem then reached for his gun that was kept under the counter. He aimed
at the robber and fired, but nothing happened. Qasem then used the gun
to repeatedly hit the robber in the head.
“I felt that was my opportunity to just keep hitting him, take him all
the way down,” Qasem said.

Qasem then reached for the store’s panic button and his phone. He called
911 and police arrived shortly after to arrest the robber.

Police arrested 35-year-old Charles Blakeley, charged him with robbery
and transported him to a local hospital to be treated for cuts to his
face and head.

Safe at home, Qasem recalled the struggle to NBC 5′s Kristi Nelson. He
told Nelson that he can’t believe he fought off the bigger man.

“I guess that moment when he said ‘do you wanna die’, I kind of felt I
was going to die. I wasn’t going down by myself,” Qasem said.

Qasem added that he hopes Blakeley is able to get his life together and
that he is thankful his gun jammed when he tried to shoot.

“It’s not easy to take somebody’s life. And, it’s not something that I
want to live with,” Qasem said.