Posted on 06/23/2002 12:18:20 PM PDT by chance33_98
Police Officer, Victim Of Armed Robbery
He fought for his life and won. A San Antonio Police Sargeant the victim of an armed robbery. Trained to deal with danger, he stayed cool and took control.
Sgt. Roland Ortiz has been on the force for more than 2 decades. He's used to dealing with bad guys, but not like this.
It was like a Hollywood action flick, set at quaint little flower shop on the city's Northwest Side. The trouble started early Friday morning.
"I did think he was going to shoot me," said Sgt. Roland Ortiz.
Ortiz was off-duty at the time, trying to take out the trash at his wife's store. But what started as a mundane chore quickly became a life and death struggle.
"I automatically went for the gun, he had no time to react," said Ortiz.
Two men both armed were trying to rob Ortiz. One made the mistake of getting too close, Ortiz grabbed for the gun pointed at his head.
"I worked it back and forth, I worked it somehow until I worked it into his gut," said Ortiz.
At that point, Sgt. Ortiz wrestled the gun away from the suspect who thought his only option was to take off running.
"I chased him, I had a shot but it would have been at his back," said Ortiz.
Ortiz didn't take the shot, he was trained not to, but he was also trained to trust his instincts.
Like in the movies, the good guys won, the two suspects were picked up 45 minutes after all this happened. They're in custody facing aggravated robbery charges.
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