Police: Knife-Wielding Man Robs Compass Coffee, But Fails to Escape
A knife-wielding man who tried to leave a Compass Coffee in Shaw with handfuls of money from the store’s cash register this weekend was thwarted by someone who tackled him to the ground and kept him there until police arrived, according to authorities.
The armed robbery happened at the coffee shop at 1535 7th St. NW about 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
The man entered the eatery with a knife in his hand and ordered employees to give him the money in the store’s cash register, police said. A worker soon after put the register on the shop’s counter.
The man then grabbed fistfuls of cash from the till and stuffed it in a backpack. But before he could depart, somebody tackled him and pinned him down, while another person called police.
Some Compass Coffee customers took to Twitter after the incident to share what they saw.
So a guy pulled a knife at compass coffee in Shaw during a very busy Saturday afternoon. A customer jumped on him, took the knife, and …
— Kevin Carty (@PolitiCarty) March 26, 2016
….and held him down till the cops came. Wow. Hero.
— Kevin Carty (@PolitiCarty) March 26, 2016
Staff @CompassCoffeeDC are incredible under pressure. Professional in every sense of the word. Anyone here in the last hr knows what I mean.
— Tyler Law (@tyzlaw) March 26, 2016
Eric Stephens, 33, was arrested in connection with the robbery, according to authorities. Information on his lawyer wasn’t immediately available.
A Compass Coffee representative couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Photo via Google Maps
