Posted on 02/15/2025 6:25:38 AM PST by marktwain
SAN ANTONIO - A hairstylist is calling one of her customers a hero after he came to the rescue during an armed robbery inside a North Side beauty salon, shooting and killing the suspect.
The whole ordeal took place around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Marissa's Beauty Salon on Basse Rd. It was thirty minutes before closing when a masked man holding a gun barged in demanding everyone's property, according to the hairstylist named Nancy, who declined to give her last name.
"Money, cell phones," Nancy remembers the man shouting. "Money, cell phones, purse. Money, money."
There were only three people inside the salon at the time: Nancy, her 26-year-old customer, and another hairstylist.
"It all happened so fast," Nancy said in Spanish. "In the 18 years I've been working here, nothing like this has ever happened."
At first, she thought it was a joke.
"But when he got closer, I saw his eyes," she said. "He seemed like he was on something, and I said, 'This is not a game. This is real.'"
The other hairstylist screamed and ran over to stand next to Nancy and her customer as the man with the gun became increasingly irate.
"And then he pointed the gun at us and said, 'Don't move, don't move.' So, we didn't move," Nancy explained. "Then he asked us why we weren't getting him the money from the register, and I said, 'Well, because you told me not to move.'"
That's when the customer spoke up, offering a reason there wasn't much money in the salon.
"He told him that the person who had all the money had already collected it and left for the day," she said. "The man got even more mad when he saw there wasn't anything to take. So, he hit my customer with his gun. Pistol-whipped him."
Nancy says right after he pistol-whipped the customer, the would-be robber ordered him onto the ground and started to Zip-Tie him. He was about to tie up the customer's legs when the customer – still on his knees – pulled out his own gun, swung around and shot the robber at least three times. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"It was impressive," Nancy said. "It was like he was Agent 007."
The customer then flipped over the man's body and took off his mask while Nancy called 9-1-1. First responders took the robbery suspect to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The medical examiner has identified him as Victor Cardenas, 50.
The customer was treated for a head injury at the scene. Nancy says he just happened to be in the right place at the right time, since he should have been at the salon for his haircut earlier but decided to stop by his house first to get his gun.
"He went to his house just for his gun," she explained. "I don't know if he already felt that something was going to happen, but he went to his house and said, 'I'm going to get a haircut, but I came for my gun.' Just like that. "He's my hero."
Less than a day after the robbery and shooting, Nancy was already back at work cutting hair. She says she still feels shaken up, but not enough to miss work.
"I have to work," she said matter-of-factly. "I have a family to feed and bills to pay."
I love stories with a happy ending. God bless our heroes.
Amazing he felt the need to go home to get his gun before going to get his hair cut. His guardian angel was whispering in his ear.
The robber found out the hard way that Texas isn’t new york city.
Some robbers mistake Salon for Saloon.
I never leave the house without my CCW.
The robber is reported as 50 years old.
Think of how many victims he created over his lifetime.
Think of how many future victims the armed Samaritan saved.
Well, Victor doesn’t have to worry about ICE anymore. That’s one bright spot.
Years ago I used to hunt/fish on a buddies private property. We’d go out to find someone had broken in to steal lanterns, fishing gear etc. One weekend the folks across the road from my buddy’s place were having the same issue, came out to their cabin, found it had been broken into and they went looking to see if they could find someone in their timber and came across a lean to on their property. A homeless guy had gotten the jump on them and told them to drop to their knees. One guy had a .38, pulled it out while flipping back to the guy and emptied his gun. After the dust settled a couple months later, he told my friend that he just started shooting and kept pulling the trigger after the revolver had been emptied.
Te homeless guy had been estranged from his family for a couple years & was an addict. He had lived in the area for about a year and he had a .22 pointed at the guys. Ruled in self defense.
Catholic Charities was operating just up the road from here on San Pedro.
Notice I said, “was.” Lot fewer transients in the area now.
Quite so. I imagine he had a quality prayer of thanksgiving that night.
> He could not allow himself to be tied up. <
That and being taken somewhere else (voluntarily or not)… two very bad signs.
There was a story awhile back about a guy who wanted to buy a used car. When he arrived at the agreed-upon location, the “seller” told the guy the car had been moved.
So the guy followed the “seller” to a new location, where he was badly beaten and robbed. There was no car, of course.
Well it is Texas. And those hairdressers can get ornery with scissors.
“And then he pointed the gun at us and said, ‘Don’t move, don’t move.’ So, we didn’t move,” Nancy explained. “Then he asked us why we weren’t getting him the money from the register, and I said, ‘Well, because you told me not to move.’”
This sounds exactly like a scene from, “Raising Arizona”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCYtC1p6xbo
He probably just wanted to look good for his Valentine.
Very good! I was trying to come up with an old west reference but it escaped me. It is still early in Cali and I haven’t had my black rifle coffee yet.
Like the American Express card?
:-)
Good thing this was in Texas.
In California, the Good Samaritan would be facing all kinds of criminal charges, possibly up to murder - gun charges, definitely.
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