Mother fends off robbers with handgun
Three robbers wielding scissors picked the wrong place to rob over the weekend, police say.
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By Elisa Glushefski
Published: September 29, 2008
Three would-be robbers, one armed with a pair of scissors, walked into a Woodbridge store on Saturday morning with criminal intent.
They left empty-handed and apparently more than a little frightened.
About 11:30 a.m. the three walked into Tienda Hispana Esperanza. One rushed to the counter and pointed the scissors at the owner's neck and another grabbed her son’s arm, the family that owns the store said Monday.
But the owner, Esperanza Salazar, 36, reacted immediately.
She leaned back and reached for her handgun and pointed it at the three unknown males, the Salazar family said.
"It kind of looked like 'The Matrix,' " said 14-year-old Julio Salazar, who wa
working at the store with his mother that day.
One of the would-be robbers immediately ran out of the store, located on PR Business Center Drive. A second robber, who wielded the scissors, tried to run out of the store but tripped on a clothes rack and fell. He finally crawled out the front door.
The third robber paused and sat down in a folding chair, putting his hands in the air. When Esperanza Salazar told her son to call 911, the third man ran for the door and momentarily got tangled in the clothes rack before running out of the store.
All three eventually ran toward the back of the business center off Smoketown Road, according to police.
Esperanza Salazar, with her son translating for her, said that while she was nervous, she wouldn't have let anything happen to her son.
The investigation revealed that the three had been loitering outside the store before the robbery attempt, but it was unknown for how long, said police spokeswoman Officer Erika Hernandez.
"Based on the witnesses statements, it appeared they were staking out the business," Hernandez said.
Officers, including a K-9 unit, searched the area and surrounding businesses for roughly 2 1/2 hours but found no one, Hernandez said.
Police said the first would-be robber was described as a Latino man, 30 to 35 years old, collar-length straight hair, with a medium build and a mustache. He was wearing a green sweater with a white T-shirt underneath, a black baseball cap, black sneakers and glasses.
The second robber, who was armed with the pair of scissors, was described as a Latino man, 20 to 21 years old, with a medium build and shoulder-length curly hair, police said. He was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and a black cap with letters on the back.
The third robber was described as a Latino male, between 17 and 18 years old, collar-length straight hair, with a medium build and unshaven chin. He was wearing a light brown shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Prince William County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS. Callers don't have to give their names, just the information, and could earn up to a $1,000 cash re-ward.
Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062.
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Grant Gary Jacobsen ) on October 04, 2008 at 10:48 am
It is a good thing the would-be robbers didn’t also have guns. The lady might’ve ended up dead. Gun control means keeping firearms out of the hands of thugs, nothing more.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( willow703 ) on October 03, 2008 at 11:01 am
shorty,
I’m going to comment on the story.What were the robbers going to accomplish with a pair of scissors? A robbery! If I’ve said it once, child, I’ve said it a thousand times.
Be careful with those scissors, they’re sharp. Actually shorty, scissors have been the weapon of choice in quite a few murders & felonious assaults.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( shorty514 ) on October 03, 2008 at 10:29 am
Is anyone going to actually comment on this story? This woman was incredibly brave, and was lucky she was able to protect herself, her son and her business from these would-be robbers. Thank goodness nothing worse happened… but what were they expecting to accomplish with the scissors?? How stupid.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on October 02, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Dude i graduated high school in the 90’s and never went to college. You still didn’t answer the question. Who was Tom Jones? LOL Chris Cummings
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( JoeDaBeast ) on October 02, 2008 at 5:41 am
Chris, I do not believe that you stated, “Oh, those Bush tax cuts? You, I, & millions of not rich people got a piece of that. It lowered & eliminated taxes, when it dies millions will again be paying taxes or see their taxes go up.“ Your buddy willow did. Getting laid off in the 90s? I think YOU are showing your age (from your comment on - Police may have murder suspect cornered in Woodbridge
You can see the comment at the following URL:
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/local/article/police_may_have_murder_suspect_cornered_in_woodbridge/21382/
Who is Tom Jones? Before my time granddad. LOL Chris Cummings)
I was in my second year at Rutgers University at that time. Who is the grandpa now? :}
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( zcxnissan ) on October 01, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Willow i would gladly have taken Nixon and Ford if i had known how bad Carter was going to be. Clinton was the beneficiary of a mild recession coming to an end early in his first term. However i don’t think it was really necessary to raise taxes 3 times, and this contributed to the near zero growth of the economy when he left office, some say it was when that recession started the one that was already in full swing when he took office, exacerbated by 9/11 of course, then 4-5 years of a decent economy and decent growth. Only falling off in 2007 because of questionable mortgages and home equity as well as other bad lending deals especially to non credit worthy people. I agree with you Joe i wouldn’t want to be President ever, especially not now. Taxes will go up, not the best thing to be doing in a slowing or potentially recessionary economy, grant it i can still very easily find a job around here. More American jobs will go overseas and to people who have no right to have them. Joe i have never said that the economy wasn’t decent when Bill Clinton was in office i have said that his foreign policy and NAFTA were pretty horrendous however. Just look at what NAFTA has done to the auto, manufacturing and trucking industries. I am sure it has affected other industries as well. Those are the most immediate and devastating. I actually got laid off twice in the 90’s times were so good. I guess there were hard times here in Bristow back then.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( JoeDaBeast ) on October 01, 2008 at 7:31 am
What lower/eliminate taxes are YOU talking about? About a THIRD of my gross goes to taxes. I still come back with a pretty penny, but DAMN I miss the Bill Clinton days. That’s right I said it, yes I did.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( willow703 ) on October 01, 2008 at 7:25 am
MLB1,
That bridge from Dumfries to the I66/Rte.28 unterchange, what river would that be crossing? As for the secret ballot, Obama supported a bill that would have taken it away. He said he was in favor of a secret ballot only after he came under fire. So far as I know, the bill hasn’t been changed & Obama hasn’t asked for one.
Obama wants to tax you because, as Willie Sutton said, “That’s where the money is”. The people he’s going to give the money to will not pay taxes on it.
Oh, those Bush tax cuts? You, I, & millions of not rich people got a piece of that. It lowered & eliminated taxes, when it dies millions will again be paying taxes or see their taxes go up.
Obama says he will cut taxes & provide new programs. Is that three-card monte or the shell game?
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( JoeDaBeast ) on October 01, 2008 at 7:15 am
willow703, throw titles on the plans however you want. Obviously, the way the current state of things are going, it is not working. So a big shake-up and change is in order. The biggest drawback is when President Obama takes office, the country will be so screwed up, he will not be able to right the ship in four years, so he will not be able to garner the type of support it will take for another four years (if he even would want to).
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( willow703 ) on October 01, 2008 at 7:02 am
Chris,
Your old BIGOT buddy, willow, here.
I have more than a few than a few screws loose & it makes life a challenge, but it hasn’t affected my intelligence. You forgot Al Gore, without whom we couldn’t exchange these comments. He also invented the marvelous device we call a remote control.
It allowed me to catch Nancy Pelosi’s imitation of a drunk during an ad break in the Redskins - Cowboys game.
As for the 70s, Republicans Nixon & Ford were in office for all but 3 of those years.
Report Inappropriate Comment